The market for long-term bulk power is becoming increasingly competitive and mature. Given that many privately developed power projects have been or are being developed in the US, it is possible to begin to evaluate the performance of the market by analyzing its revealed prices. Using a...

Performance-Based Ratemaking (PBR) is receiving increasing attention by energy utilities and their regulators. PBR is the industry term for forms of regulation that increase financial incentive for performance relative to traditional cost-of-service/rate-of-return (COS/ROR) regulation. In this...

Changing electricity prices to more closely reflect production costs has a significant impact on the consumption of electricity. It is known, for example, that most of the efficiency gains in the electric power sectors of the industrialized world since the first international oil price shock in...

In contemplating a regulatory approach, the challenge for regulators is to develop a model that provides incentives for utilities to engage in socially desirable behavior. In this primer, we provide guidance on this process by discussing (1) various models of economic regulation, (2) problems...

Competitive bidding for electric power is maturing. Increasing numbers of utilities are soliciting proposals from private suppliers. The amount of capacity being sought is increasing, and potential suppliers appear to be abundant. Analysis of these developments still remains limited. Evidence on...

This report reviews recent DSM shareholder incentive designs and performance at 10 US utilities identifies opportunities for regulators to improve the design of DSM shareholder incentive mechanisms to increase the procurement of cost-effective DSM resources. We develop six recommendations: (1)...

Decoupling revenues from sales is an important regulatory option under consideration by regulators seeking to transform utilities from sellers of a least-cost energy commodity to providers of least-cost energy services. This report examines decoupling from three perspectives. First, the authors...