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In departing Colorado PUC, Jeff Ackermann says government regulation has a legitimate and noble public purpose

DENVER – In bidding farewell to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission last week, Jeff Ackermann heard kind words and then spoke from the heart.

Regulation should not be viewed as a bad word, he said. It’s good work, necessary work, and at times very taxing work, and it is on behalf of the public.

Ackermann had chaired the 3-member PUC since 2017 but was not reappointed by Gov. Jared Polis.

Jeff Ackermann

Jeffrey Ackermann

Meghan Gilman, the newest commissioner, said that she had not actually met Ackermann in person since she became a commissioner last March. John Gavin, who lives outside Paonia, introduced his cat, Tulip, who he said had been wanting to join their weekly meetings since March.

Bryan Hannegan, the chief executive of Holy Cross Energy, offered words of commendation from what he called “co-op nation.” He called out Ackermann’s role in advancing work on distribution network planning, a wonkish but ultimately very important piece of creating the grid of the future. “I think that is a great foundation for the future of our state,” he said.

Ackermann said he gained a much deeper appreciation of the work of a PUC chairman in the last four years, but also offered a message to PUC staff members who were never answerable directly to the PUC commissioners but nonetheless have a role in regulating public utilities from railroads to telecoms to electrical and gas utilities. Their work, he wanted them to know, was honorable. They were doing the bidding of the public.

Ackermann described it as a sense of calling, this work of regulation. It offers neither great financial compensation nor high prestige, but it is of public benefit.

Not all see it that way. He pointed to a trajectory that began in 1986 when President Ronald Reagan famously said he believed the nine most terrifying words in the England language are: “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”

That has led to the framing of the idea that “government is the enemy of the public, and regulation is the worst part of government,” said Ackermann. “This has led to a time in which it “can be difficult to one’s political ambitions to acknowledge regulation.”

This is from the Jan. 15, 2021, issue of Big Pivots, an e-magazine tracking the energy transition in Colorado and beyond. Subscribe at bigpivots.com

The issues of water, clean air, and electrical generation are so complex that it’s impossible for any one person to bring the expertise to the table necessary to bear witness for the public benefit. “We need to remember that regulation has a legitimate and I would say noble purpose.”

Even as Ackermann spoke on Jan. 6, a mob had gathered outside the Capitol in Washington D.C. and had begun to invade the building itself, many bent on destruction. Soon, a police officer was being killed, a lectern was being carted off, and self-congratulatory selfies were being taken.

To see more of Ackermann’s thoughts, see the January 2021 issue of Public Utilities Fortnightly Magazine, “Parting Thoughts of a Regulator.”

Allen Best
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