RAP joined the State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network (SEE Action) and United States Department of Energy for the second Regulatory Policy Exercise on December 5th.  Energy regulators and state energy officers from eight Southeast states enjoyed a lively, interactive mock docket for implementing a hypothetical energy efficiency resource standard at a hypothetical utility.

RAP staff partnered with Andy Satchwell, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and Tim Woolf, Synapse, to role-play different parties to the case, providing pre-filed written testimony, testifying orally during the session, and answering questions from the two dozen state government participants as happens during actual efficiency proceedings.

Through this dynamic session, participants learned about the three pillars of ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs: program cost recovery, lost contributions to utility fixed costs, and utility or shareholder incentives, and options for addressing each. Participants also gained experience using a modelling tool to observe, analyze, and discuss the financial impacts of their policy decisions on the hypothetical utility.

For more information on ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs, visit RAP’s energy efficiency knowledge management series.