FRI News

Aug. 26, 2021

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 that things are not improving as quickly as we had hoped. Several of our presenters had health concerns, many of our presenters were having trouble getting permission for business-related travel, and all of our presenters had difficulties with flight cancelations (as well as disconcerting…

June 17, 2021

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 renewable energy issues and to consumer demand for electricity in peer-reviewed journals such as The Energy Journal, The Electricity Journal, and Energy Policy. Working with FRI, Dr. Ohler will be developing research and grant opportunities related to the regulation of public utilities…

April 27, 2021

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. David K. Owens, 2021 Crystal Award honoree 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 an accomplished executive with extensive experience in public policies surrounding utility operations, strategic planning, technology development, rate making and regulation. He is recognized as one of the foremost authorities on electric utility issues, industry restructuring and transformation. Owens has a long history of contributions to the utility industry. During…

Feb. 12, 2021

Same FRI, New Home and New Opportunities

February 2, 2021 — During January 2021, the Financial Research Institute (FRI) moved to a new home on the University of Missouri campus along with new academic leadership as part of the Division of Applied Social Sciences (DASS). Since its founding in 1988, the FRI had been housed within the (now) Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business at the University “to promote education, research and service across various areas of finance.” Over the years, the FRI’s programs have evolved to focus primarily on economic, financial and regulatory issues related specifically to regulated utility industries. As part…

April 30, 2020

FRI Selects Kenneth Colburn as 2020 Crystal Award Recipient

The FRI Crystal Award was created to recognize an individual who has made outstanding and sustained contributions to the design, implementation or analysis of public utility regulatory policy. The award is presented annually during the FRI Symposium.