Under traditional regulation, utilities make more money when they sell more energy. Yet this reality is at odds with explicit public policy objectives that utility and environmental regulators are charged with achieving, including economic efficiency and environmental protection. Many utility-sector stakeholders have recognized the conflicts implicit in tradition...

This guide was prepared to assist anyone who needs to understand both the mechanics of a regulatory tool known as decoupling and the policy issues associated with its use. This would include public utility commissioners and staff, utility management, advocates and others with a stake in the regulated energy system. While this guide is somewhat technical at points...

This white paper, prepared for the Arizona Leadership Summit on Solar Energy and Economics held in Phoenix on January 9, 2009, addresses utility sector economic incentives and disincentives and their impact on the deployment of renewable energy....

In 2007, the Minnesota legislature enacted a new statute, Section 216B.2412, in which it defined an alternative approach to utility regulation, decoupling, and directed the PublicUtilities Commission (PUC) to “establish criteria and standards” by which decoupling could be adopted for the state’s rate-regulated utilities.To fulfill its obligation to develop ...

This document is a part of the Distributed Resource Policy Series and is entitled "Distribution System Cost Methodologies for Distributed Generation: Volume II Appendices."...

This paper focuses on the actual costs of distribution utilities in the U.S., based on FERC Form 1 filings from 1994-1999, and identifies deviation between particular distribution expansion costs and average marginal and average embedded costs....

The Philippines' utility industry is still vertically integrated, but it is expected that generation will soon be separated and turned into a more competitive business. Our recommendations focus on the distribution utility....