It is crucial for trade groups representing public power, investor-owned utilities and rural cooperatives to collaborate to advance permitting reform, Scott Corwin, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association, said on May 18.
Permitting reform is an area where “collaboration really matters because our ability to meet growing demand and stay affordable and reliable depends on it,” Corwin said. In a statement for the record it submitted for a March 25 Senate hearing, APPA said it strongly supports infrastructure neutral permitting reform.
Corwin made his remarks while participating in a panel at the Smart Electric Power Alliance’s Energy Evolution Summit in Washington, D.C. that discussed how the major energy trade associations in Washington, D.C., are collaborating on various issues.
Corwin noted that the energy associations collaborate on various issues including reliability, mutual aid and grid security.
“We work well together,” Corwin said.
Affordability is another area that offers an opportunity for the energy associations to work together in a collaborative way, he said.
“When we look at affordability, it’s really critical,” Corwin said. He noted that the groups work together on things like the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
Other panelists were Jeffrey Connor, Chief Operating Officer at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Drew Maloney, CEO of the Edison Electric Institute.
In his closing remarks, Corwin said that “from a high level, you are seeing utilities --and certainly those we work with in the public power realm – stepping up to meet the moment.”
He also said that local engagement and buy in -- regardless of the utility business model – “can go a long way in telling the story, and communication with those customers locally is really critical as you see this quickly evolving future coming at us.”
