Effective Regulation of Public Utilities

Last month's essay argued for certification—or at least for sustained conversation about certification. This month, I offer thoughts and questions about how certification might work.  I focus on possible certifying entities, processes and curricula for supporting courses.

Possible Certifying Entities

Certifying entities fall into three categories:  academic, government and private.

Academic institutions certify acquisition of knowledge by granting degrees.  The requirements vary widely by institution and subject matter.

Government bodies certify readiness to perform specific services that government has determined require certification, such as law, pharmacy, medicine, realty sales and engineering; even cosmetology, massage therapy and tattooing.  In these situations, government rules prohibit noncertified persons from performing these services—or at least claiming to be certified when they are not.  In the legal profession, certification beyond the general bar exam is rare; indeed bar rules typically prohibit a lawyer from claiming to "specialize" in anything (patent law is a prominent exception).

But—news from North Carolina, from a renewables lawyer there:  "A group of attorneys in North Carolina is petitioning the North Carolina State Bar to create a new area of legal specialization for utilities law, which would include practice and procedure before the North Carolina Utilities Commission, representation of clients subject to the provisions of state and federal utilities law, and representation of investors in the field."  The requirements would likely include "five years’ experience in utilities law, a minimum of 400-500 hours of practice in the area per year, CLE requirements, peer review, and passing an exam."

Private organizations certify readiness to perform services where certification is not government-regulated.  In these situations, a profession, through its organization, has determined that there is value to the public and to the service provider (in terms of market value) to create a certification process.  Examples of such professions are financial planning, city planning, meeting management and religious ministry.  There is the Society of Regulatory and Utility Financial Analysts, which certifies through an exam.  And there is even an organization that certifies alcohol servers.  See tipsalcohol.com. (TIPS stands for "Training for Intervention Procedures"—"the global leader in education and training for the responsible service, sale, and consumption of alcohol."  It provides certification "valid or accepted for use in bars and restaurants in 30+ states."  Certification, I am told, can protect a bar from lawsuits by those injured by drivers who drank there.)