the United States

RAP provides technical and policy support at the federal, state and regional levels, advising utility and air regulators and their staffs, legislators, governors, other officials and national organizations.

We help states achieve ambitious energy efficiency and renewable energy targets and we provide tailored analysis and recommendations on topics such as ratemaking, smart grid, decoupling and clean energy resources. RAP publishes papers on emerging regulatory issues and we conduct state-by-state research that tracks policy implementation.

Featured Work

Overcoming Barriers to Distributed Resources Through Education and Dialogue

The Mid-Atlantic Distributed Resources Initiative (MADRI) identifies and remedies retail barriers to the deployment of distributed generation, demand response, and energy efficiency in the...

Learn More

Complying with Environmental Regulations: A Knowledge Management Series

This Series provides current and new PUC Commissioners and staff with the necessary resources to properly weigh the challenges associated with environmental compliance.

Learn More

Meeting Renewable Energy Targets in the West at Least Cost: The Integration Challenge

Partnering with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Exeter Associates, RAP prepared a paper for the Western Governors’ Association that explores approaches for reducing costs to integrate...

Learn More

RAP Recommends Adjusting Texas Market Rules to Value Flexibility

In comments filed with the Texas Public Utility Commission, RAP recommends that the state consider adjusting its wholesale market rules to value flexible resources.

Learn More

Helping States Meet Efficiency Targets

RAP recently helped Arizona regulators put their state on a long-term course to grow energy efficiency savings to levels as high as anywhere in the US, working with the Arizona Corporation Commission to achieve a 22% reduction in electricity demand by the year 2020 (based on 2010 numbers).

Learn More

Beyond Capacity Markets: Delivering Capability Resources to Europe's Decarbonised Power System

Delivering a reliable power supply to consumers has always been a central objective of power market design and various solutions to this challenge have been adopted in Europe and elsewhere. In the...

Learn More

Renewable Resources: Exploring the Best of the West

RAP works with the Western Governors’ Association on the Western Renewable Energy Zones (WREZ) project, which funded by the US Department of Energy.

Learn More

Decoupling: Incentives for Energy Savings

Decoupling is a tool designed to break the link between how much energy a utility delivers and the revenues it collects, thereby eliminating the utility's incentive to increase profits by increasing sales. With minor periodic adjustments in rates to stabilize revenues, the utility is indifferent to sales volumes and less prone to risk.

Learn More

Unlocking the Smart Grid's Potential

The smart grid holds great potential but smart grid investments will be cost-effective only if their benefits outweigh the substantial costs. Regulators and consumers need to know how the smart grid will deliver these benefits and make electric bills more manageable. Policies must support clean distributed resources and at the highest policy level, regulators should recognize that energy and environmental goals are interlocked.

Learn More

Tapping Efficiency in Homes

Roughly half of all efficiency and/or carbon emission reduction in North American and European buildings can be achieved through retrofit improvements to existing homes. Achieving the efficiency potential will require a new strategy to treat buildings collectively as a critical component of the energy infrastructure.

Learn More

SEEing Action on Efficiency by 2020

RAP's Richard Sedano is staffing "Utility Motivation for Energy Efficiency," one of SEE Action's eight working groups. Under the supervision of US DOE and US EPA, SEE Action works...

Learn More