About
About Power for Tomorrow
Power for Tomorrow is a nonpartisan think tank focused on the benefits of sensibly regulated electric utilities, is joining the national conversation on how to protect consumers, reliability and the environment in the rapidly advancing energy landscape.
Power for Tomorrow’s Chairs are Mignon L. Clyburn, a former commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission and the South Carolina Public Service Commission, and Tony Clark, a former commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North Dakota Public Service Commission. Both bring deep regulatory and policy insight at the state and federal levels.
They will be supported by experts at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, a law firm with offices in Washington, D.C. and Denver. Clark serves as a senior advisor at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, which specializes in energy policy among other sectors. Power for Tomorrow’s mission is to advance the public interest by supporting the public policy case for well-run, well-regulated energy companies.
Our vision is to be the nation’s premier resource for providing thoughtful, practical research and information regarding the strengths of the regulated electric utility model to support customer, environmental and public policy goals.
Sensibly regulated electric utilities protect consumers, while supporting reliability and the environment:
The vertically integrated utility model, in which electricity generation, transmission and distribution are fully integrated within one provider, is well positioned to empower customers to benefit from the changing electric grid, while ensuring states can protect customers and achieve public policy goals. There’s a good reason why this model is well established in most states: It produces reliable electricity, protects consumers, and adapts to the quickly changing energy landscape.
The regulated utility model offers tremendous benefit to consumers and the environment as the nation transitions to a cleaner energy future. Energy choices made through a planned, integrated process can keep rates low and meet environmental priorities.
Regulated public energy companies are an engine for affordable and reliable energy innovation at the scale required to evolve with the electric grid of the future.
Regulation must keep pace with the rapidly evolving dynamics of the utility industry, matching the pace of intense innovation in the energy sector. Regulated utilities harness robust energy sector competitive dynamics to benefit consumers.
Further beneficial electrification of the economy creates an opportunity to align customer and investor interests for the benefit of a sustainable environmental future.
Regulators and vertically integrated energy companies should explore ways to modernize regulation to deliver increased customer value. Such reforms should recognize:
The infrastructure of the networked grid is the single greatest asset to facilitate the new energy economy.
Regulation must ensure that everyone pays their fair share so that special interests don’t get special deals at the expense of the public at-large.
A successful transition to a more sustainable power system cannot be accomplished without substantial investment from financially viable energy companies.
Customer demands for customized energy solutions like solar, storage and microgrids can be accomplished through a regulatory environment that grants flexibility and gives incentives to innovate to meet consumer needs.
Team
Tony Clark | Co-Director
Mr. Clark is a Senior Advisor at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP. He has extensive experience in energy and utility policy at the federal and state level. He provides clients with analysis and strategic advice on a variety regulatory and public policy matters affecting their businesses. He specializes in working with clients in the energy and telecommunications industries and at the nexus of state and federal jurisdictional issues.
Having been appointed by President Obama, and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Mr. Clark served from 2012 to 2016 as a Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. While at the FERC, Mr. Clark worked on matters that are at the forefront of energy policy, such as: electricity reliability, electricity-natural gas industry coordination, oversight of the nation’s Regional Transmission Organizations, electricity grid cyber and physical security regulations, major enforcement actions, energy infrastructure permitting, the integration of renewables and energy storage, FERC Order 1000 implementation, and wholesale electricity market reforms. From 2001 to 2012 he was a Commissioner of the North Dakota Public Service Commission, including over 5 years as its Chairman. During his tenure at the North Dakota Commission, Mr. Clark oversaw numerous proceedings related to the state’s historic emergence as a leader in American energy production. In 2010, he was selected by his regulatory peers across the nation to serve a term as President of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. He also served a three-year term as Chairman of the NARUC Telecommunications Committee. Through his various regulatory positions, he has testified multiple times before Committees of both the US House and US Senate on matters related to energy and telecommunications.
From 1999 to 2000, Mr. Clark was Labor Commissioner of the State of North Dakota and a member of the Cabinet of Gov. Ed Schafer. In 1994 he was one of the youngest people ever elected to the North Dakota legislature, representing a portion of the City of Fargo for two terms in the State House of Representatives. He is a graduate, with honor, from North Dakota State University and holds a master’s degree from the University of North Dakota. In addition to his work at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, Mr. Clark serves as a non-employee independent director on the Board of Directors of NorthWestern Energy Corporation. Having attained the rank of Eagle Scout in his youth, Mr. Clark has been a long-time volunteer with and supporter of the Boy Scouts of America.
Ray Gifford | Co-Director
Raymond L. Gifford counsels communications, electric and gas utilities, and information technology companies on state and federal aspects of regulation, administrative law, and competition policy. He is an expert in public utilities law, and the law and economics of regulation of network industries. Mr. Gifford’s law and policy work focuses on the convergence of broadband communications and energy, as well as environmental policy as it applies to the electric industry. He represents clients in state and federal courts and agencies, and serves as an expert witness on utility regulation and its history. He is also a Executive Fellow at the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship, and Co-Directs the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics at University of Colorado Law School.
Mr. Gifford served as Chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission from 1999-2003. Following that, he served as President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, a Washington DC-based think-tank that studied the digital revolution as it relates to regulation of network industries. He entered the regulatory law world as First Assistant Attorney General in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. He clerked for the Honorable Richard P. Matsch of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Mr. Gifford has authored a number of articles on communications law, public utility regulation and competition policy in network industries. He is a graduate of University of Chicago Law School and St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute.
Matthew S. Larson | Co-Director
Matthew S. Larson counsels utilities and energy suppliers on state and federal aspects of regulation, administrative law, and energy policy. He has worked on matters before state and federal regulatory commissions on issues involving resource planning, rates, and other issues on behalf of both investor-owned utilities and cooperatives.
In the energy policy realm, he written extensively on issues related to electric market design and restructuring. Mr. Larson has also played key roles in significant climate and energy policy legislative efforts. On the administrative litigation side, has played a leading role in some of the most significant energy transition cases in the western United States. This includes leading the legal effort on Xcel Energy’s Colorado Energy Plan, resulting in the retirement of over 650 MW of coal-fired generation and development or acquisition of over 2,000 MW of renewable and gas-fired generation. He has also led the efforts of Western Slope cooperatives to exit membership in Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, helping these clients to bring the benefits of the clean energy transition to rural Colorado and transition to a generation mix focused on renewables and gas generation with a lower emissions footprint.
Finally, he played a significant role in the passage of a historic suite of energy and climate policy legislation in Colorado in 2019, including Senate Bill 19-236. Earlier in his career, Mr. Larson served as a law clerk for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver, Colorado and the Honorable John L. Kane of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.