WIEB – Western Interstate Energy Board

The Western Interstate Energy Board is an organization of 11 Western States and 2 western Canadian Provinces. The legal basis of the Energy Board is the Western Interstate Nuclear Compact (Public Law 91-461). The governor of each state and the premier of each province appoints a member to the Board.  The Compact provides for the President of the United States to appoint an ex-officio member to the Board.

The Compact states that the purpose of the Board is to provide the instruments and framework for cooperative state efforts to “enhance the economy of the West and contribute to the well-being of the region’s people.” The Board seeks to achieve this purpose by promoting energy policy that is developed cooperatively among member states and provinces and with the federal government.

Much of the work of the Board is conducted through committees. The Board has two committees.

• The High-Level Radioactive Waste Committee, which consists of nuclear waste transportation experts from state energy, public safety, and environmental agencies, has been working with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a safe and publicly acceptable system for transporting spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act.
• The Committee on Regional Electric Power Cooperation is a joint committee of the Western Interstate Energy Board (WIEB) and the Western Conference of Public Service Commissioners (WCPSC). CREPC is composed of an energy office official and a regulatory utility commissioner from each of the Western states and Canadian provinces and focuses on electric power system policy issues that require regional cooperation in the West. All state and provincial agency personnel, not just designated CREPC Members, are invited and encouraged, to participate in meetings and discussions.