Downtown Hilton - Portland, Oregon

oregoncub.org/cubcon19

Join the conversation on Twitter: #CUBCon19

This conference is accredited for 5.75 Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credits from theOR State Bar and 5.5 credits from the WA State Bar. Attorneys seeking CLE

credits must sign the CLE sign-in form at the registration table.

Clean Energy Communities/ Reliable Systems

CUBPolicyConference

Friday November 8, 2019

CUBPolicyConference

Friday November 8, 2019

7:15–8:00am Buffet Breakfast and Registration/Check-in (2nd Floor Lobby)

8:00–8:30am Opening Keynote: Meeting Competing Priorities in a Carbon Constrained World (Pavilion)

Brief Welcome: US Representative Earl Blumenauer - Oregon District 3 Opening Remarks: Gordon Levitt - President, Oregon CUB Board of Governors Speaker: Bob Jenks - Executive Director, Oregon CUB

A variety of demands are being placed on our energy utilities. More legislatures are demanding that utilities invest in decarbonizing our grid, our pipelines, and even our transportation system. Increasing renewables, which have low and in some cases no fuel costs, are pushing down wholesale market prices, creating more pressure to let customers leave their utility. Retiring coal plants creates reliability problems. Meeting peak winter load demonstrates that reliability is an issue that links our electric and natural gas systems. As stakeholders, how do we address these conflicting demands?

8:30–9:45am The View from the Top: A Conversation with NW Utility Executives (Pavilion)

This is a difficult time to be a utility executive. Policy makers are demanding new business models built around decarbonization. Whole communities are asking for more choices in energy supply. Regulators are worried about our ability to maintain reliability. Customers are seeing massive blackouts in California and wondering whether that could happen here. How do utility executives see these issues, and how do they manage their large organizations to respond to the pressure?

9:45–10:00am: Break

10:00–11:15am: Break-Out Session 1 (Choice of one)

Topic 1: Wholesale Markets: Decarbonization and Reliability (Broadway Room)Our utilities are constantly buying and selling power in wholesale energy markets. These markets can be competitive and volatile with cost impacts on participating utilities, and, in turn, the customers of those utilities. How does this power move around? Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) involve independent system operators that control and dispatch power to utility customers. Except for California, there are no RTOs in the western United States. Much of the West has joined the Energy Imbalance Market (EIM), which has successfully reduced the cost to balance loads and resources in a sub-hourly market. While recent attempts at creating a western RTO were not successful, creating additional markets is under consideration. What effect would a day ahead regional market have on costs, carbon, and reliability? Beyond a day ahead market, what are market options that bolster decarbonization while still ensuring reliability?

Topic 2: Clean and Renewable: Oregon’s Path to “100%” (Pavilion)Climate change has triggered near- and long-term harms to communities around the world and in the Northwest. In the past year, many state legislatures and electric utilities have laid out ambitious plans – some economy-wide, some not – to address climate change. Because those already facing environmental, social, and economic challenges experience the most acute effects of climate change, how do we ensure equity and engagement in policy development and implementation? What decarbonization measures are next for Oregon’s electric and natural gas utilities? What do we mean by 100%? What do we mean by “clean” and “renewable” energy?

11:15am–12:00pm: Networking Break

12:00-1:00pm: Luncheon and Midday Keynote: Navigating the New Northwest (Pavilion)

Speaker: Megan Decker - Chair, Oregon Public Utility CommissionReliability is a core value of the utility system, a foundation so broadly accepted and seldom disrupted that it risks being taken for granted. It is time to unpack and examine energy system reliability — what it means and what it will take for the energy system to achieve it in a time of new technology options, a changing customer landscape, and pressing climate challenges.

1:00–1:15pm: Break

Program

1:15–2:30pm: Break-Out Session 2 (Choice of One)

Topic 3: Accelerating Local Clean Transitions (Broadway Room)Several Oregon municipalities have already adopted community-wide “100% renewable by 2050” goals, and local governments are increasingly interested in doing more on an even faster timeline. What options are available, and how do they fit into broader decarbonization goals and affect system reliability needs? Beyond local interest in how the energy used in communities is produced, what are options for local transportation sector and other decarbonization efforts? How can electrification of private vehicles and public transit be accelerated at the community level? What is the balance between facilitating zero emission vehicles and local possibilities for non-vehicle transportation alternatives? How can local decarbonization efforts build community capacity, particularly for low-income Oregonians?

Topic 4: Capacity Realities: Avoiding a Regional Resource Shortfall (Pavilion)In order to have adequate resources to meet the demand of a growing region, utilities, stakeholders, and regulators are taking a hard look at regional capacity needs. It’s one thing to be able to meet the theoretical needs of a system at the peak of its use, but what if things go wrong and intervening events exacerbate an already difficult situation? That is what happened earlier this year when an unexpected cold snap coupled with natural gas system constraints placed massive strain on the system. The lessons learned from that day will echo through utility planning processes for years. What capacity do we have available in the Pacific Northwest and who is building new capacity options? What capacity difficulties are created by the closure of regional thermal baseload plants, coupled with most new resources being renewable? What advancements can we make at the distribution level to ensure flexibility to serve the customers who need it? How can we ensure there is adequate transmission infrastructure to meet our capacity needs? What does it truly mean to be resource adequate?

2:30–2:45pm: Break

2:45–4:00pm: Break-Out Session 3 (Choice of One)

Topic 5: Empowering Customers in New Utility Partnerships (Broadway Room)Traditionally, energy utilities provide service to their customers by distributing electricity or natural gas. But there are new opportunities to empower customers to provide service to their utilities. For example, natural gas utilities are exploring geographically targeted energy efficiency programs to avoid distribution system upgrades. Electric utilities are launching demand response programs ranging from peak time rebates to managed EV charging. These types of programs – particularly those on the customer side of the meter that can provide firm capacity – change the nature of the customer-utility interaction. Most of these programs require reliable broadband access and adjustments in customer behavior. What’s in it for the customer, and what is the best way to convey potential benefits? What is needed to ensure these efforts are a win-win for utilities and all customers?

Topic 6: Toward a More Resilient Energy Future (Pavilion)From heavy snowfall to earthquakes and forest fire, Pacific Northwest utilities face resilience challenges from Mother Nature, with climate change playing an aggravating role. Humans create additional challenges - particularly cybersecurity threats - given energy system operations’ increasing reliance on broadband. How is resilience different from reliability? What utility investments are most effective to improve resilience, and how much are we willing to pay for those investments? Are there standardized metrics to evaluate utility resilience planning and improvement? What additional metrics are needed to evaluate resilience projects in terms of meeting a broader range of neighborhood interests? What is the role of broadband and community engagement in emergency response strategies?

4:00–4:15pm: Break

4:15–5:00pm: Consumer Champion Award Ceremony / Closing Keynote: Clean Energy Communities: A Rural Lens (Pavilion)

Opening Remarks and Presenter: Samuel Pastrick - Outreach Manager, Oregon CUB Honoree: Representative Pam Marsh - 5th District, Oregon Legislature

Oregon is blessed with a million landscapes, and a thousand communities that will all bring different interests, objectives, resources, and technologies to the process of change. What are the challenges we face when we aspire to bring “clean energy communities” to our less-than-urban regions? How can we support the economic, social, and environmental transformation needed to deal with climate disruption? Representative Marsh will share her perspective gained from 25 years in the mountains of southern Oregon.

The Consumer Champion Award honors individuals and organizations who, through their industry leadership, policy innovations, and public service have contributed in a substantial way to the well-being of Oregon’s residential utility ratepayers. Read more about our 2019 Consumer Champion at oregoncub.org/cubcon19.

5:00–6:00pm: Closing Reception (2nd Floor Lobby)

Thank You to Our Sponsors

--Climate Solutions--Forth--Oregon Environmental

Council

--NW Energy Coalition--Oregon Solar

Energy IndustriesAssociation

Polar Bear

Brown Bear

Honey Bear

Media Sponsor Black Bear