NARUC, NATOA Make Summer Meetings Virtual

NARUC will go virtual for its July 20-22 conference rather than meet in Boston, the state utility regulators’ association said Wednesday. NATOA said the same day that its board voted unanimously to virtualize its Aug. 31 to Sept. 3 conference rather than have it in Denver. See our news bulletin: 2005200060. NARUC decided based on surveys earlier this month of industry stakeholders and commission chairs (see 2005050052), said Michelle Malloy, senior director-meetings and member service, in an interview. Respondents raised concerns about safety, budget and travel bans at their organizations with no declared end dates, plus the planned location Boston hasn’t set an end date for its shutdown, she said. NARUC is reviewing bylaws to ensure committee business meetings and resolution votes may be conducted by video or audio and is working with the vendor of its existing meeting app to virtualize the conference, she said. The conference will go 12:30-5 p.m. EDT each day to accommodate West Coasters, she said. Expect a mix of live and prerecorded content, with sessions available for viewing afterward on demand, she said. Meeting virtually is an opportunity to bring in more commission staff, who may not have had budget to travel to physical meetings, she said. COVID-19 will be the big but not only topic, Malloy said. NARUC signed the contract for the Boston location in 2016, but “the venue was very accommodating” to cancellation, she said. “We have opened a dialog about a future meeting there.” The association hasn’t decided the fate of the Nov. 8-11 meeting in Seattle but may continue to incorporate some digital in future meetings, said Malloy. The regional Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners (MACRUC) conference also will be virtual June 22-24. NATOA decided not to meet in person after weighing "the costs to the organization, the well-being of our attendees, the economic hardship of our member communities and our responsibilities as individuals and as an organization to the public health and safety," President Brian Roberts and Executive Director Tonya Rideout emailed members Wednesday. The virtual event won't be "just fancy webinars," they said. "There will be keynotes, panel sessions, roundtables and networking in online lounges and virtual gathering spots."