As utility regulators contemplate major infrastructure investments to keep pace with pockets of growing peak demand throughout the region, less costly non-wires alternatives (NWA) solutions are looking all the more attractive in transmission and distribution system planning — especially given the potential for dramatically lower price tags for ratepayers.

Rhode Island has long been a leader in the field of energy efficiency policies, consistently landing in one of the top five positions on ACEEE’s scorecard in recent years.

Last month’s annual meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) was notable for several reasons. In the days leading up to the meeting, NARUC released a final version of its Distributed Energy Resource Rate Design and Compensation Manual, and at the meeting members elected a new President, who happens to be from the NEEP region.

Yes, it’s already mid-December; that time of year best known for office holiday parties, well-deserved vacation time, and — perhaps most importantly — the big push to make end-of-year deadlines. Just in case the holiday season has you either with your head in the clouds or your nose to the grindstone, you can read on for a summary of the latest on energy efficiency policies in the NEEP region.

Here’s a hypothetical situation (perhaps a strictly hypothetical one if you’re a millennial like me):