TO: Senate Utilities Committee Members
FROM: Senator Jim Merritt
DATE: January 12, 2016
RE: Senate Utilities Committee Hearing
Senate Utilities Committee Hearing
January 14, 2016 - Upon Adjournment
Indiana Statehouse Room TBD
What does an "All of the Above" Strategy to Serve Indiana's
Electric Customers Look Like in the Coming Years?
The Committee will have an opportunity to hear from and ask questions of national experts as well as state organizations about options which may exist to meet the electric needs of Hoosiers in the coming years. Many changes are impacting these options, not the least of which is the increasing number and stringency of EPA rules. Over the past few years, this Committee has focused heavily on the critical role played by energy efficiency and renewables in serving customers in the future. These are both important components of serving customers now and will remain important in the future. However, other options exist and maybe considered in the future.
Presenters:
- Karen R. Obenshain; Senior Director, Fuels, Technology & Commercial Policy at the Edison Electric Institute (EEI).
Dr. Obershain will provide an overview of the wide range of approaches to serving electric customers. She will address the benefits of different technologies, the need for different types of technologies and how they can be built into a portfolio to serve customers.
- Christine Csizmadia; Director for State Outreach at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI).
Ms. Csizmadia will provide a more focused look at nuclear energy, its role in energy supply at the moment and the options which might be available in the future.
- Richard Benedict; Project Developer with AES United States.
Mr. Benedict will provide a focused look at energy storage, especially batteries, which can be incorporated into a strategy to serve electric customers. These technologies are particularly important as more renewable resources are added because they can help with the intermittent nature of certain renewable resources (in particular with wind and solar resources). However, these technologies provide other important benefits which will benefit customers.
- Jesse Kharbanda; Executive Director with the Hoosier Environmental Council.
Mr. Kharbanda will provide insights into how Indiana should approach serving electric customers including how the current mix of generation, energy efficiency, renewables and other options should evolve here in Indiana.
- Jennifer Terry; attorney with Lewis & Kappes representing the Indiana Industrial Energy Consumers (INDIEC).
Currently, 42 electric customers in Indiana operate over 2,300 MW of generation owned by these customers. And, this capacity is being expanded. Ms. Terry will provide perspectives on how industrial energy customers in Indiana could be an even larger part of meeting the needs of Indiana's electric customers in the future.
Download a copy of the agenda HERE> Senate Utilities Committee Agenda, 1-14-16