Illinois Commissioner Ann McCabe Joins FRI Advisory Board
July 6, 2022 FRI is pleased to welcome Commissioner Ann McCabe of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to the FRI Advisory Board. Commissioner McCabe was appointed to a five-year term at the ICC starting February 1, 2022. She previously served on the Commission from March 2012 to January 2017. Prior to returning to the ICC,…
Dr. Ohler Awarded MU Research Council Grant
June 10, 2022 Dr. Adrienne Ohler, Associate Research Professor with FRI, was recently awarded a grant by the University of Missouri Research Council to support a new research project titled The Economics of Environmental Health Disparities: Who Benefits from Coal Power Plant Closures? Disparate exposure to energy-related air pollution has been shown to increase health…
John E. “Butch” Howard Selected for 2022 Crystal Award
April 28, 2022 FRI has selected John E. "Butch" Howard as recipient of the 2022 Crystal Award for Distinguished Service. John E. “Butch” Howard was a member of the South Carolina Public Service Commission (SC PSC) for sixteen years, as well as an active participant in the National Association of Regulated Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and…
Karen Stachowski Joins FRI Advisory Board
April 12, 2022 FRI is pleased to welcome our newest Advisory Board member, Karen H. Stachowski, Senior Assistant Attorney General in the Consumer Protection & Advocate Unit of the Financial Division in the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General. In this role, she focuses on proceedings before the Tennessee Public Utility Commission (TPUC), which is…
FRI Joins Engaging 4 MO Series
FRI's Executive Director, Dr. Michael Sykuta, joined the Engaging 4 MO webinar series to tackle the question, "Who Sets My Utility Bill?" The topic was sparked by a social media post complaining about the rates energy companies are allowed to charge "with no concern for the public." The 30-minute video debunks this notion and dives…
Research Update: Household Appliance Stock, Income, and Electricity Demand Elasticity
January 31, 2022 Dr. Adrienne Ohler, Associate Research Professor with FRI, published a study titled "The Household Appliance Stock, Income, and Electricity Demand Elasticity" examining how electricity demand elasticity is impacted by household income and the appliance stock. The paper, published in the January 2022 issue of The Energy Journal, is co-authored with Dr. David…
NRDC Sponsors 2022 FRI Crystal Award
January 20, 2022 The FRI is excited to announce the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) as the sponsor for 2022 FRI Crystal Award for Distinguished Contribution. First awarded in 2013, the Crystal Award is presented each year to recognize an individual who has made recent and significant contributions to the design, implementation or analysis of…
2021 Public Utility Symposium Moved to Virtual
August 26, 2021 We have made the difficult decision to hold the 2021 FRI Symposium entirely virtual this year. The thought of leaving the virtual meeting world was exciting, but the reality is that travel is still not as safe and reliable as we want it to be, and the responsible decision is to acknowledge…
FRI Welcomes Dr. Adrienne Ohler
June 17, 2021 FRI is excited to announce the addition of Dr. Adrienne Ohler to the FRI team, effective July 1, 2021. Dr. Ohler is an Associate Research Professor at the University of Missouri with appointments in the Division of Applied Social Sciences and the School of Medicine. She has published several papers related to…
David K. Owens Selected for 2021 Crystal Award
April 27, 2021 FRI has selected David K. Owens as recipient of the 2021 Crystal Award for Distinguished Service. Owens is President and Energy Consultant at Da'VAS, LLC. He retired in 2017 as Executive Vice President of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI). He is…