Respect, Determination and Turkey Emojis Kept 26 Intervenors Talking

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) has announced the publication of a new report, Voices From Colorados Global Energy Settlement, an oral history of the groundbreaking 2016 negotiations involving 26 intervenors and three regulatory dockets.

The resulting agreement between Xcel Energy and the 26 stakeholders -- covering dockets on rate reform, solar market expansion and renewable energy planning -- has been well covered. But SEPA researchers saw an essential piece of the story that was missing. How did they do it, when, up until that point, other states and jurisdictions had failed? The report contains the compelling voices and insights of the people who spent long days and nights in a Denver conference room, looking for ways to overcome longstanding distrust and hammer out a series of compromises and new solutions.
The latest in SEPAs 51st State Perspectives series, the report weaves together material from in-depth interviews with five key stakeholders, each of whom provided thoughtful but very human takeaways from their experiences during the negotiations:
• Alice Jackson of Xcel, on setting ground rules: "Number one: Respect and integrity in the room. If you bring emotion and negative attitudes, this is not going to work. But if you bring legitimate issues, lets talk them through."
• Erin Overturf of Western Resource Advocates, on the role of humor and human connection: "Sending people random text messages of turkey emojis is a legitimate negotiating strategy."
• Rebecca Cantwell of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, on lessons learned: "The whole system of PUCs and this sort of high priesthood of 50 lawyers who understand what is going on is not the best way to be making policy on these critical public issues. It needs to be much more open."
Tom Figel of GRID Alternatives and Lindsey Stegall of the Colorado Energy Office also brought their differing views and perspectives to the narrative. A prologue by Tanuj Deora, SEPAs Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer, provides a broader historical view of the negotiations, based on his experience as Director of the Colorado Energy Office from 2011 to 2012.
"As part of SEPAs 51st State platform, this paper complements the broader toolkit we are developing to assist states and other jurisdictions in accelerating their transition to a cleaner, more resilient, more customer-centric—that is, smarter—power grid," Deora said. "The Colorado model may not be a good fit for all conditions in all markets. But, we hope, it provides inspiration and takeaways that can be adapted to local efforts in grid modernization, rate reform and business model evolution."
Voices From Colorados Global Energy Settlement: 26 Intervenors, 3 Dockets, 1 Historic Negotiation is available for download.

About SEPA
The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) is an educational nonprofit working to facilitate the utility industrys transition to a clean energy future through education, research, standards and collaboration. SEPA offers a range of research initiatives and resources, as well as conferences, educational events and professional networking opportunities. SEPA is founder and co-sponsor of Solar Power International and winner of the Keystone Policy Centers 2016 Leadership in Energy Award. For more information, visit www.sepapower.org.

About The 51st State
Since its inception in 2014, SEPAs 51st State Initiative has provided an open platform for envisioning the future of the energy system. More critically, the initiative is focused on developing practical tools and sharing information that can help industry stakeholders — utilities, regulators, technology firms and consumers — work together to find the collaborative solutions for energy transformation that will benefit all. In 2016, the Keystone Policy Center honored the 51st State with its Leadership in Energy Award.