In development

DESCRIPTION:

Every year, electric and gas utilities' assets are threatened by the impact of climate change, and cybersecurity attacks. This poses substantial long-term risks to the reliability of utility service, also to public safety. This panel will explore how energy utilities and regulators can take a broad view of vulnerabilities and use collaboration, creativity, and resilience to overcome these challenges.

KEY QUESTIONS:

1) What are the essential resilience requirements for a rapidly evolving grid?

2) What is the regulator’s role?

3) How can we increase Distributed Generation while improving its resilience?                                                                                                                                  

DESCRIPTION:

The net-zero (decarbonization) challenge is unprecedented – in scale, complexity, in speed. Smart grids allow consumers to be active participants in responding to this challenge, but the public may not support it without an understanding of the benefits. Solar PV and microgrids can help to connect communities without access to energy, but they may not be considered in utility planning and rates would become unaffordable without any type of subsidy. What can policy and regulation do to address these barriers?

KEY QUESTIONS:

1) To what extent are energy regulators involved in universal access to energy (access to electricity and access to clean cooking)?

2) Are communities without access to energy included in energy planning?

3) Are regulators able to establish simple rules for access, connection, and operation of photovoltaic home systems or mini grids?

4) Do regulators have the power to establish cross-subsidies in rates to help communities without access to energy?

5) Access is not just a grid connection – it is getting electricity when needed. How can regulators and utilities empower consumers to play an active role in energy security?

6) What mechanisms are available to regulators to facilitate access to and use of energy for vulnerable people?

DESCRIPTION:

How can energy regulators make decisions that help accelerate the energy transition, and do they have the mandate to do it?

Energy regulators around the world have many responsibilities; making sure that the lights stay on, that energy is fully accessible, and that consumers can afford it. But with the energy sector at the forefront of emission reductions to reach international climate changes commitments, and climate impacts putting energy infrastructure at risk, how can regulators make decarbonisation part of their day-to-day decision making? While many regulators do not have decarbonisation goals explicitly as part of their mandate, some have interpreted their mandates to include action on climate change, and some have sought changes to their legal basis in order to make decisions that accelerate the energy transition.

The Regulatory Energy Transition Accelerator is conducting a review into different ways that energy regulators take decarbonisation into account in their decision making. This panel will be an opportunity to explore some case studies from around the world of mandates that have changed, including climate impacts on energy systems in risk assessments, and incentivising carbon free electricity production.    

KEY QUESTIONS:

1. How much room for manoeuvre do you have to interpret your own mandate, and how much do you rely on your government to set your objectives?
2. Can regulators assess climate risks in the same way that market risks are assessed?
3. What would decision making processes look like if decarbonisation was a key goal?

In development

DESCRIPTION:

The energy sector and utilities are in the midst of a transition to the use of clean energy. The success of that transition depends to a large extent on the ability of markets to support required investment and supply reliable and affordable energy to users while increasing reliance on renewable energy. This panel will explore fundamental issues and solutions to address this challenge.

KEY QUESTIONS:

1) What strategies should be employed to maintain supply reliability while integrating more renewable energies?

2) Do regulators need to rethink how markets are structured? Or how reliability services are defined and procured?

3) What should regulators consider to ensure that power grids transformation in their jurisdictions can deliver clean and reliable energy?

DESCRIPTION:

Regulatory efficiency should not only consider performance indicators for specialized actors in the energy sector and government institutions but regulators' ability to reach wider audiences to ensure reliable and sustainable energy supply.

The role of economic regulators is often confused with political agents, raising false expectations on the scope of action economic regulators have under free market conditions. The Ibero-American Association of Energy Regulatory Entities (ARIAE) recently launched an initiative which gathers social communication areas to share experiences and strategies to better perform their functions. This exercise helped communicators to reflect on the challenges of multicultural audiences, the importance of developing educational training programs, and the importance of addressing to the new digital user.

KEY QUESTIONS:

1) How can we better communicate our role in society to empower consumers?

2) How to communicate complex topics?

3) Do energy consumers really know the options available to reduce their energy bill, save energy, and contribute to the decarbonization of the economy? If not, what can energy regulators do to improve the social communication of energy?

4) How have we faced the relation between the regulator and consumers during the pandemic?

5) Examples of technological innovations to create user-friendlier apps to interact with new digital users?

DESCRIPTION:

The drive toward electric vehicles has caused regulators and industry alike to rethink issues such as what constitutes a public utility, conventional rate design, and statutory authority.  Where we draw the line in the sand (or on the road) is changing. How can we ensure that everyone stays in their lane when the roadmap keeps changing?

Potential grid impacts from electromobility include the potential for new generation requirements, a reshaped load curve, affect on distribution networks, and the need for better grid management approaches

KEY QUESTIONS:

1) How do we define electromobility (e.g., cars, bikes, buses, trains)? What are the models of statutory authority? And how does this affect the regulator?

2) Has the increased demand for EVs as an effect of the pandemic and the increased fuel cost put more pressure on regulators? In what ways?

3) Are EV charging stations public utilities?

4) What do the data on electromobility and emissions show us, and to what extent should regulators be involved? 

5) How do we ensure equity in siting charging stations?

6) Should stranded assets be a concern, or is it too early to tell?

7) What strategies are needed to engage customers (e.g., optimal charging periods during off-peak times, locations of new charging stations, etc.)?

8) Which rate design models work best for EVs?

9) What questions should regulators be asking to prevent EV cyber attacks?

10) Why should regulators care about interoperability and standardization?

The Women in Energy (WIE) Initiative of ICER, is contributing to the WFER with this meaningful conversation on the future of infrastructure development for 2025. This session is a statement about the importance of gender mainstreaming as it helps us raise new questions to design future and inclusive solutions.

What will the infrastructure development needs look like (for EU/the world) in 2025 and beyond to remain as a reliable pillar for different energy sources? What does it take from a leader with a growth mindset to tackle the right questions to address associated challenges, especially in the light of digitalization, geopolitics, regionalization, climate change and the 2030 Agenda?

The session will include relevant questions to design proper and individual Network Development for all different future societies. Rather than providing answers, the WIE wants to provide a space to reflect upon the direction of the sector with the support of relevant and experienced experts.

In development