Knowledge Center
We believe that sharing our expertise and collaborations in clean energy policy is how real, effective change happens.
From reports and policy briefs, to webinars and podcasts—RAP advisors have built an extensive collection of resources providing in-depth analysis and practical solutions to today’s energy challenges.
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The development of integrated, regional electricity markets is progressing rapidly in Europe and market integration is producing tangible results, evidenced by a reduction of around one-third in average wholesale prices over the period 2008 to 2012. However, while Member States… View Summary +
Although individual utility companies own the power plants and lines that generate and carry electricity to consumers, many have joined regional transmission operators (RTOs), which coordinate resources over a broader geographic area to secure greater system reliability and reduce costs. View Summary +
This brief paper outlines standard approaches to utility cost allocation and explores how decisions made by regulators affect eventual rate designs (i.e., how a utility’s revenue requirement is apportioned among customer classes). Jim Lazar provides an overview of different approaches… View Summary +
This brief paper reviews rate design approaches used by vertically integrated utilities. Jim Lazar discusses elements common to vertically integrated utilities across the U.S., including the establishment of customer classes, seasonal and time-of-use rates, inclining block rates, critical peak pricing… View Summary +
This short paper examines how electricity rates are designed in competitive markets. Wilson Gonzalez outlines and provides examples of wholesale generation auction processes and results, reviews capacity markets and the role of regional transmission organizations and independent system operators, and… View Summary +
Jim Lazar makes the case against straight fixed/variable rate design, in which all costs claimed to be fixed are recovered in a monthly charge, and only those considered variable are recovered on a per kilowatt-hour basis. This approach stabilizes utility… View Summary +
Michigan, like many other states, faces the concurrent forces of emerging technologies, changing economics of fuel sources, new environmental regulations, aging infrastructure, and regional wholesale electric market influences. To address these challenges and ensure successful implementation of the state’s energy… View Summary +
电力需求侧管理杂志于2015年7月在环球揽萃栏目节选刊登了睿博能源智库受世界银行委托撰写的报告。基于对美国电力行业监管的经验，文章介绍了美国监管机构及其职能，并结合实例深入地阐述了美国在能效资源的获取、定价和融资以及与此相关的电网公司收入监管、激励机制方面的最佳实践。初步探究了需求响应和储能技术在美国的应用以及面临的挑战。文章的最后也简要地概括了美国区域温室气体减排行动(RGGI)特别是收入循环利用开发能效资源的经验。… View Summary +
As utilities and regulators consider their strategies for complying with greenhouse gas emissions limits under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) forthcoming Clean Power Plan (CPP), natural gas has an important role to play. But a “dash to gas” approach… View Summary +
Chinese government involvement in energy efficiency commenced in the 1980s and has become the largest and most comprehensive government-sponsored suite of energy efficiency programs in the world. In 2011, the government placed an energy efficiency obligation on the two large… View Summary +
Utilities face unprecedented changes in the way power is generated and delivered. With the ramp-up in distributed generation, energy efficiency and demand response, electric vehicles, smart appliances, and more, the industry must rethink its rate structures to accommodate and encourage… View Summary +
The EU has set an ambitious goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030. This will require significant investment in renewable energy sources such as wind and photovoltaics as well as measured policies to deal with… View Summary +
The electric utility industry is facing a number of radical changes, including customer-sited generation and advanced metering infrastructure, which will both demand and allow a more sophisticated method of designing the rates charged to customers. In this environment, traditional rate… View Summary +
Some describe natural gas generation as the “Swiss army knife” of generation technologies, and gas’s current abundance and low price have driven calls for large-scale investments in gas infrastructure. Yet a Swiss army knife, versatile as it is, would not… View Summary +