Welcome back to another Movement Monday. I hadn’t planned on posting anything today (kinda low energy as I hunker down inside my home to avoid the bad air from the wildfires in Canada), but then came across a very cool resource on the Earthjustice site.
Here’s the page where you can access all the info about Public Utility Commissions (PUCs), but I’ll highlight a bit of the introduction:
In a conference room somewhere in your state, a small, largely unseen group of people is casting votes that could make or break the clean energy transition.
You’ve probably never heard their names, and you might not even know the name of the agency they’re running: the state public utility commission (PUC). Fossil fuel interests would love to keep it that way.
PUCs regulate utilities. (In some states, they have other names, like public service commissions, or PSCs.) They determine the cost of your gas and electricity bills and where your power comes from, whether it’s fossil fuels, hydroelectricity, or renewables like wind and solar.
States created PUCs to oversee utility monopolies because we all need power to live. In many ways, PUCs operate like courts. When a utility wants to increase rates, build a methane gas power plant or pipeline, prop up an aging coal plant, or build new energy infrastructure, the proposal typically comes before the PUC for a hearing.
I invite you to visit the page where you can learn more about PUCs and how they operate (click on the plus signs to expand explanations). But even more cool, there’s a pull-down menu of each state (The Public v. the Power Companies) that shows recent PUC activities and offers links to state organizations that are fighting for a transition to renewable energies so that you can check them out and see if you’d like to join their efforts.
Also on the main page is a link that takes you to the Earthjustice library of PUC cases, offering updates such as this uplifting story from Philadelphia: How This Faith Group Took on a Fight for Climate Justice and Stopped Energy Bills From Skyrocketing. I don’t know about you, but I get a real boost learning about people and communities coming together like that!
Here’s a map I found (via
ElectricityRates.com) that illustrates most PUCs are appointed, but there are states that elect their commissioners:
I’d love to hear if you learned anything new about the PUC in your state, so please share in the comments. Here’s hoping your air is healthy and that ours here in Colorado will soon be cleaner. Until next time, solidarity! ✊🏽
Tracy Abell 