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On December 5, 2025, Foley Hoag hosted the 30th Anniversary of the New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable (“Roundtable”), convening leading regulators, executives, and policy experts in the region's electric power industry to reflect on three decades of market evolution and to chart its future. The morning featured three panels, starting with reflections on the Roundtable's past thirty years, led by Phil Giudice and Dr. Jonathan Raab, and an update on the Roundtable's future operations. The second panel, “Accomplishments to Date,” included ISO New England's President Gordon van Welie, Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rebecca Tepper, and Analysis Group's Susan F. Tierney. The third session, “Looking to the Future: Essential Next Steps,” featured Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (“DEEP”) Commissioner Katie Dykes, Princeton University's Jesse Jenkins, Smart Electric Power Alliance President Sheri Givens, and Acadia Center's Jamie Dickerson.
Phil Giudice opened the event with an interview of Dr. Jonathan Raab, who reflected on three decades of the Roundtable's evolution. Dr. Raab highlighted the Roundtable's expanding influence on New England's energy dialogue by noting its growth in attendance and sponsorship since its origin. The pair also recapped the Roundtable's major themes—from early restructuring debates to today's focus on affordability and decarbonization—setting the stage for the discussions that followed. Both emphasized the importance of stakeholder engagement on regional energy issues as key to the Roundtable's success.
A central theme of the second panel was energy reliability and affordability. Speakers noted that New England still lacks a fully functioning demand-side energy market, pointing to gaps in advanced metering infrastructure, dynamic pricing, and virtual power plants. Even so, panelists highlighted pockets of success—particularly municipal aggregation and energy efficiency rebates—that are delivering customer value and offering a blueprint for broader participation.
Electrifying buildings and transportation through heat pumps and EVs is pivotal to the region's trajectory, speakers said, while underscoring pragmatic constraints: a tight workforce and supply chain for heat pump installations; the need to pair incentives with weatherization; and the risk that poorly managed adoption could increase peak loads. The panelists emphasized rate design as a key lever for aligning customer behavior with grid development.
The third panel examined how shifting federal policy is reshaping near-term affordability and investment timing. As Jesse Jenkins put it, the Inflation Reduction Act “put clean energy on sale.” Subsequent federal changes have narrowed parts of that “sale,” leaving some incentives intact while reducing the tailwinds that had lowered wind and solar costs. With demand growing and fewer federal cushions, affordability is moving to the center of the energy policy agenda.
Panelists further emphasized that load growth in New England need not raise bills if managed well. As Sheri Givens noted, market solutions must “meet customers where they are.” Jenkins elaborated that customer education and electric bill format reforms could accelerate energy efficiency adoption and reduce electricity costs across the region. Meanwhile, DEEP Commissioner Dykes suggested Massachusetts may follow other states in imposing large-load tariffs to prevent customers from bearing incremental grid costs as increased demand from data centers and AI begin to impact affordability.
The event closed with an update on the Roundtable's next chapter. Dr. Jonathan Raab announced his retirement and the selection of Apex Analytics to support future meetings, guided by a Transition Advisory Committee. Dr. Raab noted, however, that he would continue to be involved during the initial 2026 session, and that Foley Hoag would continue in its role as host of the Roundtable. The presentation celebrated three decades of the Roundtable's growth and how conversations about the transition of New England's energy markets were enhanced by Dr. Raab's leadership and his success in fostering meaningful stakeholder engagement.
Across all three panels, a clear throughline emerged: affordability is emerging as the organizing imperative in New England energy policy, but it is inseparable from energy reliability and the pace of decarbonization. Future Roundtables will explore the next chapter of the region's energy markets, with a focus on unlocking demand-side flexibility, modernizing rate design, and accelerating permitting reform similar to Massachusetts' recent siting reform efforts.
Associate Anjika Pai contributed to this article.
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