16 Dec
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 16, 2021)— Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG), a public interest advocacy coalition focused on the need to expand, integrate, and modernize the North American high voltage grid, announces the election of its new Board President Patrick Hughes, Vice President of National Electrical Manufacturers Association, and Christina Hayes, Vice President of Federal Regulatory Affairs for Berkshire Hathaway Energy, as its new Treasurer. Hughes replaces former Board President Nina Plaushin, Vice President of Federal Affairs for ITC Holdings. The newly appointed officers represent the highly diverse nature of ACEG’s growing coalition, which has grown over 180% in the last year.
“I am honored to have been elected to serve as president and would like to thank outgoing President Nina Plaushin for her years of service to ACEG,” said Patrick Hughes. “At this current moment, with an electrified economy ahead of us, the need to invest in transmission infrastructure is greater than ever. ACEG is at the forefront of promoting policies that anticipate the future needs of the grid, proactively planning for a changing, decarbonized generation mix. I look forward to working with ACEG management and partners to continue the coalition’s influential work.”
“2022 will be an eventful year for implementing transmission policies that will help deploy much needed infrastructure for the benefit of customers throughout the country,” said new Treasurer Christina Hayes. “ACEG has shown that it is uniquely situated to coordinate a broad range of stakeholders that support that goal and is still nimble enough to pivot and advocate for such policies, wherever the opportunity arises. I am excited to be part of the leadership team at ACEG that will tackle these challenges in the coming year.”
In light of the growing support and new policy focus on transmission from the Biden administration, Congress, and FERC, the board also announced the formation of a committee to hire a new full-time, permanent Executive Director. The committee will consist of Hughes; Hayes; Shashank Sane, Senior Vice President and Head of Transmission at Invenergy; and Adrienne Mouton-Henderson, Deputy Director of Policy Innovation for the Clean Energy Buyers Association. The new full-time Executive Director will work closely with current Executive Director Rob Gramlich, who will continue to lead ACEG’s policy development work as a consultant.
“At this exciting time for transmission policy, ACEG seeks a seasoned clean energy leader with experience in policy advocacy and coalition building as our Executive Director,” said President Patrick Hughes. “We encourage interested parties to inquire about the position and send materials to our confidential search committee at jobs@cleanenergygrid.org.”
In 2021, policymakers made significant progress on transmission policy:
- Congress adopted important new transmission provisions in the bipartisan infrastructure legislation signed by President Biden, including a new $2.5 billion “anchor tenant” program and new siting authority for the Department of Energy.
- The Build Back Better legislation passed by the House and under consideration in the Senate includes a new 30% Investment Tax Credit for transmission, $1.5 billion in grants and $500 million in loans for large scale (>1000 MW) regional interties, $100 million to study/engage stakeholders on large scale transmission planning, and economic development grants for host communities.
- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) launched an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANOPR) on transmission to address key challenges in planning for transmission. Recently, 174 organizations, including 59 consumer organizations, filed comments supporting FERC’s efforts to reform transmission planning.
“ACEG has accomplished a great deal in 2021, most notably with putting transmission firmly into the mainstream of the climate and infrastructure agenda,” said Executive Director Rob Gramlich. “As a group we helped put transmission in the middle of any conversation about infrastructure or climate policy and developed specific policy ideas that have either passed or are under serious consideration in legislation and regulatory policy.”
About Americans for a Clean Energy Grid:
Americans for a Clean Energy Grid (ACEG) is a leading non-profit, broad-based public interest advocacy coalition focused on the need to expand, integrate, and modernize the North American high-voltage grid. ACEG brings together the diverse support for an expanded and modernized grid from business, labor, consumer and environmental groups, and other transmission supporters to support policy which recognizes the benefits of a robust transmission grid. For more information, please visit cleanenergygrid.org
Media Contact: Sabreen Ahmed
sabreen@dgardiner.com, 770-576-5343 (c)
