By Benita Dodd

Atlanta – Cost-effectiveness, reliability and competition are what Georgians want from providers of such services as telecommunications, electricity and natural gas. Change is what they can expect, judging from recent reports:

·     Southeastern governors including Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue last month wrote the Bush administration that they suspect the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) “is aggressively moving forward with a series of actions which will coerce Regional Transmission Organization participation.” Regulators in the South fear RTOs will increase costs for ratepayers.

·     A federal appeals court recently ordered U.S. regulators to revise rules that force local telephone carriers to continue leasing their networks to rivals at government-mandated prices.

·     The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners is warning Congress that states could lose $13 billion a year if they are unable to tax the emerging Voice-Over-Internet Protocol (VOIP).

A central figure in these controversial issues is Stan Wise, president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and a member of the Georgia Public Service Commission. He will keynote the Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s Policy Briefing Luncheon at the Commerce Club at noon on Tuesday, March 16.

“My job is to facilitate competition in the state,” Commissioner Wise told the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee in February as he testified on NARUC’s support of VOIP regulation. “It is our job to protect the consumer.”

Attendees at the Policy Briefing Luncheon will have the opportunity to hear Commissioner Wise’s views and question him on issues impacting the state including energy reliability and transmission lines, telecommunications, emerging technologies and consumer protections.

Commissioner Wise, serving his second six-year term on the PSC, was chairman in 1997 and 1999. He is also past president of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (SEARUC) and a member of the State Energy Advisory Board. The PSC’s mission is to “exercise its authority and influence to ensure that consumers receive safe, reliable and reasonably priced telecommunications, electric and natural gas services from financially viable and technically competent companies.”

The Cobb County resident was first elected to public office in 1990 as a member of the Cobb County Commission, after serving on the county Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals. From 1992-94, he was a board member of the 10-county Atlanta Regional Commission. Commissioner Wise is a board member of the National Regulatory Research Institute and the Cobb Educational Foundation, and has served on the board of directors of the Cobb YMCA and the Boys Club of Cobb County and the Advisory Board of the North Georgia Law Enforcement Academy.

The Policy Briefing Luncheon is scheduled for noon on Tuesday, March 16, at the Commerce Club. The cost is $20 for members and guests; $25 for non-members. To reserve a seat, e-mail reservations@gppf.org or call 404-256-4050 or (800) 423-8867 (toll-free in Georgia).

Media representatives contact Benita Dodd at 404-256-4050 or e-mail benitadodd@gppf.org.