'Night of the Living Dead' or 'Back to the Future'? Electric Utility Decoupling, Reviving Rate-of-Return Regulation, and Energy Efficiency

31 Pages Posted: 24 Sep 2008

See all articles by Tim Brennan

Tim Brennan

University of Maryland, Baltimore County - Department of Public Policy; Resources for the Future

Date Written: August 15, 2008

Abstract

The distribution grid for delivering electricity to the user has been paid for as part of the charge per kilowatt-hour that covers the cost of the energy itself. Conservation advocates have promoted the adoption of policies that "decouple" electric distribution company revenues or profits from how much electricity goes through the lines. Their motivation is that usage-based pricing leads utilities to encourage use and discourages conservation. Because decoupling divorces profits from conduct, it runs against the dominant finding in regulatory economics in the last twenty years - that incentive-based regulation outperforms rate-of-return. Even if distribution costs are independent of use, some usage charges can be efficient. Price-cap regulation may distort utility incentives to inform consumers about energy efficiency - getting more performance from less electricity. Utilities will subsidize efficiency investments, but only when prices are too low. Justifying policies to subsidize energy efficiency requires either prices that are too low or consumers who are ignorant.

Keywords: decoupling, price caps, electricity, energy efficiency, conservation

JEL Classification: L51, L94, Q41

Suggested Citation

Brennan, Tim, 'Night of the Living Dead' or 'Back to the Future'? Electric Utility Decoupling, Reviving Rate-of-Return Regulation, and Energy Efficiency (August 15, 2008). RFF Discussion Paper No. 08-27, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1272664 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1272664

Tim Brennan (Contact Author)

University of Maryland, Baltimore County - Department of Public Policy ( email )

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Resources for the Future ( email )

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