Among 10 board-approved resolutions passed unanimously, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) urged Congress to address climate change Wednesday at the conclusion of its annual meeting in Anaheim, CA. Among six energy-related recommendations, NARUC urged climate-related legislation with cap-and-trade design principles for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

A separate resolution outlined how state regulatory commissions can best do their jobs in a carbon-constrained world by working “collaboratively with state and local government entities, researchers and industries in considering the adoption of policies that appropriately promote cost-effective energy efficiency efforts and that give proper consideration to the benefits resulting from the use of cost-effective, low- or no-carbon technologies.”

Outlined for a task force of state regulators from around the nation that was convened last March, NARUC officially went on record in support of federal climate legislation, although it did not specifically endorse a cap-and-trade approach. Instead, the regulators’ organization articulated principles that Congress should consider if it “chooses to implement a cap-and-trade mechanism.”

The NARUC principles attempt to address the issues of equity, economic efficiency and what it called “ease of administration” for any cap-and-trade program. It also endorsed federal climate change legislation that is “consistent with existing NARUC policies regarding nondiscriminatory wholesale competition, demand response, energy efficiency, renewables, generation resource adequacy, fuel diversity, clean coal, improved nuclear technologies and the development of a comprehensive solution to nuclear waste disposal.”

Outgoing NARUC President Jim Kerr, a North Carolina regulator, said the resolutions “mark a significant step” for the association and state regulators generally. He said they should position NARUC to be “a major player as Congress takes up climate legislation.” Kerr said the association wants to assure its voice is heard in Washington, DC, along with that of its constituent energy consumers throughout the nation.

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