1.0Citizens Utility Boardhttps://www.citizensutilityboard.orgrich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="FKciXuQDiE"><a href="https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/blog/2024/12/10/consumers-for-a-better-grid-2024-year-in-review/">Consumers for a Better Grid: 2024 Year In Review</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/blog/2024/12/10/consumers-for-a-better-grid-2024-year-in-review/embed/#?secret=FKciXuQDiE" width="600" height="338" title="“Consumers for a Better Grid: 2024 Year In Review” — Citizens Utility Board" data-secret="FKciXuQDiE" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> Well, we’ve made it to the end of 2024. As we take a breath to gather ourselves for the coming year, it’s good to reflect on all we’ve accomplished in the past year and chart a course for all that remains to be done. CUB, through its Consumers for a Better Grid campaign, has been working diligently on behalf of Illinois consumers at the power-grid operator PJM Interconnection and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). A few highlights from the past year … January: We started the year by organizing consumer advocates across the two Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) that manage the power grids in Illinois,  MISO and PJM, to call for better interregional transmission planning. We have a special interest in ensuring that planning between the two regions is done efficiently, because proactively planning interregional transmission can lower costs and improve reliability in Illinois (especially in the face of extreme weather). Learn more about transmission: Who pays for transmission lines? Take a look at your power bill February: State legislators in Illinois, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia announced a shared effort to bring better transparency to PJM. CUB’s Clara Summers testified in front of the Maryland state legislature in support of the bill. March: The Chicago Tribune shined a light on PJM’s broken interconnection queue process. “(PJM) has unnecessarily set our transition to cleaner energy back by years,” said Clara Summers, the Consumers for a Better Grid campaign manager at CUB. April: CUB’s Clara Summers was invited to speak on a panel at the National Environmental Justice Conference and Training Program. The decisions made at RTOs impact the affordability, reliability, and cleanliness of our electricity. Environmental justice communities feel these issues most acutely, as they often deal with energy burden, frequent power outages and power plant pollution.  But getting access to RTOs is very difficult for the public. Consumers for a Better Grid is working to change that. May: CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz and Campaign Manager Clara Summers attended PJM’s Annual Meeting in Baltimore. At the meeting, Clara presented to the PJM Board about needed improvements to the decision-making process. We also joined other consumer advocates in filing formal comments to FERC, agreeing with proposed rules barring generators from forcing consumers to pay for reliability standards the generators are required to meet.  June: CUB joined environmental organizations in filing a protest with FERC, asking that the federal agency require PJM to comply with Order 2023 by streamlining the interconnection process and modernizing the grid.  “PJM is dragging its feet on the clean energy transition and doing everything it can, instead, to create exceptions for itself,” we told the Chicago Tribune. July: This was a banner month for us. In the space of a few weeks, we joined a protest filed with  FERC advocating for fair treatment of energy efficiency in the market. We also filed a protest opposing anti-consumer changes to PJM’s Consolidated Transmission Owners Agreement, with legal support from Earthjustice. Finally, a proposal that we co-sponsored with Maryland advocates passed a PJM stakeholder vote with resounding support. (The vote begins a discussion on how to design and […]https://www.citizensutilityboard.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ClaraNationalEnvironmentalJusticeConferenceApril2024.jpg20481536