when you return home. Unfortunately, we can no longer receive expense submissions by regular postal mail. Please let me or my Senior Associate Lynne Fowler (LFowler@geestrategies.com) know if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you all in a couple of weeks. Kind regards, Bob Robert W. Gee President Gee Strategies Group LLC 7609 Brittany Parc Court Falls Church, VA 22043 +1.703.593.0116 (US Main & Mobile) +1.703.698.2033 (US Landline & Fax) + 86.132.6023.6867 (China Mobile) Email: rwgee@geestrategies.com www.geestrategies.com Policy Analysis Advocacy Litigation Support WASHINGTON AUSTIN * * * 15th Anniversary * * * April 30 - May 2, 2018 Utility Commissioners/ Wall Street Dialogue Hyatt Centric Times Square New York 135 West 45th Street New York, NY 10036 Ground Rules for Dialogue 1. Discussion shall not involve any pending cases before commissioners. 2. Conversations are not intended to arrive at a consensus. 3. Remarks are not for attribution. Monday, April 30 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Lunch 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Ones Utility Finance 101: A Primer for New Commissioners, and a Refresher Course for Seasoned Using a hypothetical rate case filing, a team of experts in finance and regulation offer a tutorial explaining the fundamentals of utility finance and how regulatory decisions may impact the cost of capital. Although this course is designed primarily as an orientation opportunity for new commissioners, experienced commissioners may also benefit from this interactive discussion explaining the basics of capital formation for the electric utility industry, and the essential role of regulation. (Scheduled break from 3:00 – 3:15 pm) Lynne Fowler Senior Associate Gee Strategies Group, LLC Former Portfolio Manager, Employees Retirement System of Texas John Quackenbush President JQ Resources LLC Former Chairman, Michigan Public Service Commission 6:30 p.m. Welcome Dinner Morton's The Steakhouse Midtown 551 5th Avenue (on 45th, between 5th and Madison) (Meet in Hotel Lobby at 6:15 p.m.) (Attire: Business or Business Casual) Tuesday, May 1 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. Registration and Breakfast 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. General Session 8:00 a.m.– 8:15 a.m. Welcome Overview and Ground Rules Robert W. Gee President Gee Strategies Group, LLC Welcome to New York John B. Rhodes Chairman New York Public Service Commission 8:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. A Conversation on Innovation in the Electric Utility Sector Alan W. James Senior Managing Director, and Chairman, Infrastructure & Energy Group Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. Facilitator: Philip D. Moeller Executive Vice President, Business Operations Group and Regulatory Affairs Edison Electric Institute 9:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Update Anthony Pugliese (invited) Chief of Staff Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 9:45 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Break 10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Industry’s Perspectives on the Current Business Environment Introduction: Investor-owned electric utilities today confront a host of challenges ranging from evolving market models to environmental compliance costs, compounded by the need to increase capital expenditures for system maintenance and upgrades, all while confronting flat to declining sales growth. How will these multiple challenges looming on the horizon be met? This panel will address these subjects, with an emphasis on how regulation can facilitate or impede the current operating environment. Moderator: Julie Fedorchak Commissioner North Dakota Public Service Commission Panelists: Ralph Izzo Chairman, President & CEO Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. Patricia (Patti) Poppe President and CEO Consumers Energy Lead Respondent: Brooks McCabe Commissioner Public Service Commission of West Virginia 11:15 a.m. – 11:45 p.m. Keynote Address: The View from NARUC The Honorable John “Jack” Betkoski III President, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and Vice Chairman, Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Lunch 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Utility Finance Wall Street Panel, Part II: The Credit Rating Agencies and Debt Analysts Introduction: Who are the principal participants in the capital markets, and how do their roles influence the cost of and access to capital by electric utilities? What is the capital markets’ outlook given the need for utilities to access capital to fund their capital expenditure plans? This first panel will explore the key players in the debt capital markets including the role of credit rating agencies, and how their opinions influence the cost of and access to capital, augmented by the viewpoint of a sell-side debt research analyst and a debt investor. Moderator: Justin Olson Commissioner Arizona Corporation Commission Panelists: Kenneth Adams Managing Director, Global Public Markets TIAA Investments Karen Choi Partner Capital Group Michael Haggarty Associate Managing Director Moody’s Investors Service Lead Respondent: Sadzi Oliva Commissioner Illinois Commerce Commission 2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Break 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Utility Finance Wall Street, Part II: The Investors and Equity Analysts Introduction: Continuing with our discussion of who are the principal players in the financial sector, and how their roles influence the cost of and access to capital by electric utilities, our second panel will feature perspectives from the equity investment sector, including those of an investment banker, a sell-side equity research analyst, and a private equity investor. Moderator: John B. Rhodes Chairman New York Public Service Commission Panelists: John Colella Managing Director Moelis & Company, Inc. Steven Fleishman Managing Director Wolfe Research Eric Weng Managing Director Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. Lead Respondent: Brad Johnson Chairman Montana Public Service Commission 4:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Perspectives for the Day Moderator: Kara Brighton Fornstrom Deputy Chair Wyoming Public Service Commission 5:00 p.m. Adjourn for the Day 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. Reception and Dinner with Securities Analysts Host: Moelis & Company Location: Harvard Club of New York City, 35 West 44th Street (Attire: Business) Wednesday, May 2 6:30 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. Breakfast 7:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. General Session 7:30 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. Industry’s Perspectives on the Current Business Environment Moderator: Thad LeVar Chairman Public Service Commission of Utah Speaker: James Torgerson Chief Executive Officer Avangrid Inc. 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Financing Innovation & Environmental Social Governance in the Electric Utility Industry Introduction: As retail residential and large commercial customers increasingly demand that their electricity be from sustainable or renewable energy resources, many states have followed with growing renewable mandates and utilities have been obligated to comply. This accelerating trend, among others, is driving the industry toward a more digital, distributed, and integrated grid. Transforming a one-way system to a dynamic, multi-directional network that delivers electricity and information to customers and utilities will require innovative technologies and regulatory solutions to meet customers’ changing needs. Additionally, investors are becoming more socially conscious, with many implementing Environmental Social Governance (ESG) policies that measure the sustainability and the ethical impact of an investment. Regulators are being called upon to develop new rate designs and business models to support investment that provides more options to the customer and encourages technology advancement supportive of sustainable, clean energy based on sound economics. How can regulatory policies support investment in these innovative, technologies, services, and infrastructure investments, and how might ESG policies affect the cost of capital? Moderator: Boyd Dunn Commissioner Arizona Corporation Commission Panelists: Ian Connor Managing Director, Power & Utilities J.P. Morgan The Honorable Asim Z. Haque Chairman Public Utilities Commission of Ohio Sesh Raghavan Managing Director Evercore, New York Lead Respondent: Mike Huebsch Commissioner Wisconsin Public Service Commission 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Break 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Resource Adequacy, System Reliability and Fuel Diversity As the electric industry is working to provide increasingly clean energy, it is important to remember that the industry relies on a variety of resources to generate electricity. A diverse energy mix that combines traditional energy sources with clean and renewable energy sources is critical to ensuring the electricity remains safe, reliable and affordable. In addition, economic forces have resulted in placing legacy baseload nuclear and coal plants at risk of premature retirement. How might emerging new utility models, favorable to innovation, provide regulatory certainty, while addressing some of these same concerns of resource adequacy, system resiliency, and fuel diversity. How may the regulator and system operator respond in this tug-of-war over the future of the electric grid? Moderator: Talina Mathews Commissioner Kentucky Public Service Commission Panelists: Scott Brown Vice President, Strategic Initiatives & Analysis Exelon Corporation John Bear Chief Executive Officer Midcontinent Independent System Operator Skiles Boyd Vice President, Environmental Management & Resources DTE Energy Lead Respondent: Ryan A. Silvey Commissioner Missouri Public Service Commission 11:30 – 12:00 p.m. Final Thoughts on the Dialogue: The Last Word Moderator: Elin Swanson Katz Consumer Counsel Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel 12:00 p.m. Adjournment