Reg Lab

A community to catalyze energy solutions.

RMI's Regulatory Collaborative ('Reg Lab') is a cohort-style initiative that builds regulatory staff capacity and develops cutting-edge solutions to today’s pressing issues. RMI is convening a peer network of Public Utility Commission (PUC) staff to test ideas, advance thought leadership, and tackle emerging issues.

Peer-to-Peer

RMI facilitates connections and trust between experts at PUCs across the country to foster shared learning and problem solving.

Practical Support

Our cohorts acquire new skills and resources to help them navigate the hot-topic energy issues they face in their day-to-day work.

Best Practices

With the support of RMI and expert faculty, the cohorts will develop actionable guidance on how to achieve outcomes like fully leveraging state and federal energy policy, improved grid reliability and resilience, and greater equity and affordability for customers.

Join Reg Lab’s First Cohort: The IRA and Resource Planning

This first cohort, which will begin in April, will focus on exploring the opportunities the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) brings to integrated resource planning (IRP) and how to take advantage of these opportunities in regulators’ specific jurisdictions.

The cohort will:

Strengthen staff understanding of the implications of the IRA’s new and updated tax credits and loan programs on resource costs, load forecasts, fossil retirement, incentives for customer-facing technologies, and more.
Offer a collaborative space for staff to co-develop best practices and identify IRA tax and financial mechanisms that affect IRP rules, procurement practices, equity, and more.
Develop comprehensive guidance for PUC staff to assess the impacts of the IRA on utility IRPs based on current state needs and acknowledgement requirements.

Sign up to join the IRA and Resource Planning Cohort

Sign-up

The Collaborative is free.

About six months, meeting every three to four weeks.

The meetings will be virtual.

Once you participate in a cohort, you’ll be a part of the alumni network with access to in-person networking, insights on emerging energy topics, and Collaborative tools and resources.

We’re inviting one staff member per commission. However, we do understand that staff may not be able to attend all sessions or may work with a small team on a specific topic. In those cases, we welcome additional attendees.

This schedule is subject to change based on conversations with our partners and cohort participants.

Meeting 1:
Setting the Stage

The Cohort will explore staff goals and uncover what is top of mind when considering IRA implications for IRP.

Optional Deep Dive Session 1:
IRA in Resource Planning

A facilitated discussion that unpacks a state-specific example of how the IRA affects resource planning, or RMI facilitators will guide reflections on potential implications for staff’s states.

Meeting 2:
Capacity Building

Faculty and subject-matter experts will support staff through capacity building, and the Cohort will reflect on which impacts of the IRA are most relevant to their state.

Optional Deep Dive Session 2:
IRA in Resource Planning

Either a facilitated discussion that unpacks a state-specific example of how the IRA impacts resource planning, or one-on-one meetings to explore staff technical assistance needs.

Meeting 3:
Work Planning

The Cohort will develop a checklist of IRA considerations that should inform final guidance and best practices.

Optional Deep Dive 3:
Skills Clinic

The Cohort will choose either a deep-dive session on a particular content or policy area (e.g., incorporating IRA assumptions in load forecasting), or a related skill training (e.g., crafting interrogatory requests on updated tax mechanisms).

Meeting 4:
Increasing Energy Equity

A facilitated conversation in which cohort members explore how the IRA supports energy equity and the equitable distribution of benefits through resource planning.

Meeting 5:
Jurisdiction-Specific Applications

The Cohort will use the tools and resources they’ve developed to outline jurisdiction-specific resource planning in the next 6–18 months. We’ll identify any gaps in tools and resources still needed to assess IRA impacts.

Meeting 6:
Symposium

The Cohort will share their plans, lessons learned, and next steps. RMI faculty and speakers will be available to provide coaching and feedback.

And this is only the beginning. Once you join Reg Lab, the benefits keep building.

Growing a Thriving Alumni Network

The increasingly complex work of regulators won’t be slowing down in the coming years — and neither will Reg Lab.

Our alumni network has access to the collected resources of each cohort topic area, ongoing guidance and technical support, and a trusted space to work through the implications of their work. You’ll find a wealth of knowledge that you can contribute to and pass on, for regulatory cohorts to come.

Related Resources

What Utility Regulators Need to Know about the IRA

The Inflation Reduction Act is the largest investment to date to modernize the US energy system, and regulators have a role to play in its implementation.

Unlocking the IRA: Six Key Opportunities for State Policymakers

How states can capitalize on historic climate and clean energy funds.

Regulatory Resources Dashboard

This page provides relevant research and tools for state public utilities commissions as they pursue an equitable transition to a decarbonized grid. Issues covered here include utility planning, regulatory process and strategy design, utility business models, equity, and procurement.