Benchmarking Methods in the Regulation of Electricity Distribution System Operators

This paper examines the regulation of distribution system operators (DSOs) focused on the Czech electricity market. It presents an international benchmarking study based on data of 15 regional DSOs including two Czech operators. The study examines the application of yardstick methods using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). We find that the cost efficiency of each of the Czech DSOs is different, which indicates a suitability of introduction of individual efficiency factors in the regulatory process.