New England Energy Policymaking Forum Must Be Opened to the Press, Public
Sept. 17, 2018
New England Energy Policymaking Forum Must Be Opened to the Press, Public
‘Decisions About Keeping the Lights on Have Been Made in the Dark’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Federal energy regulators must require an association that sets New England’s electricity policy to open its meetings to journalists and the public, Public Citizen said in a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) filing.
The New England Power Pool (NEPOOL), an association of market participants from all six New England states – Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island – that develops energy policy for the region, has long concealed from FERC private rules that ban the general public and journalists from freely attending its meetings. These procedures make the association an outlier compared to other Regional Transmission Organizations, which generally open their proceedings to the public.
NEPOOL is a private association tasked by FERC to administrate a stakeholder process where energy market reforms are developed, deliberated and voted upon to be sent to FERC for review and approval.
“FERC must require NEPOOL to allow reporters and the public to attend all stakeholders meetings where market rules and energy policy are developed, deliberated and voted upon,” said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program. “For too long, decisions about keeping the lights on for New England have been made in the dark.”
Read the filing here.
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