Electric Industry Structure and Regulatory Responses in a High Distributed Energy Resources Future

Date Published
11/2015
Publication Type
Report
Authors
Series Editor
LBL Report Number
LBNL-1003823
Abstract

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory hosted a webinar on November 12, 2015 titled "DERS: Industry Structure, Institutions, and Regulatory Response." To view a recording of the webinar, click here.

The report begins with an analysis of the ongoing structural evolution of the power sector. The authors--both economists and policy analysts--develop new analytical tools to examine the relationship between natural monopoly, competitive alternatives and regulatory responses. Focusing on potential profitability and the social benefits of coordination, and drawing from economic theory on multi-product natural monopolies and regulation, they extend their structural analysis to a world in which distributed energy resources are competitive with grid power in price and performance. The report then describes two competing views of the future. In one, utilities play a major role in sourcing, financing and optimizing distributed energy resources. In the other, competitive firms increasingly perform these functions. In such a future, the utility focuses on providing and maintaining infrastructure to deliver basic energy and capacity services, while facilitating distributed energy resources to create value for the utility and grid, lower the utility's costs, and encourage customers to remain connected to the distribution system rather than defect from it.

Notes
The National Electricity Delivery Division of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability provides funding for the Future Electric Utility Regulation series. Lisa Schwartz, in Berkeley Lab's Electricity Markets and Policy Group, is the project manager and technical editor. To see more information on this report series, click here. Articles related to this report: Corneli/Kihm article in ElectricityPolicy.comGMT article: Back to the Future: What Role Will Electric Utilities Play in 2030?
Series Title
Future Electric Utility Regulation Report Series
Volume
FEUR Report No. 1
Year of Publication
2015
Custom 1
<p>FEUR Report No. 1 authored by: <span>Steve Corneli (NRG) and Steve Kihm (Seventhwave)</span>. Click the publication title above to see all documents related to this publication and for a link to the related webinar.&nbsp;</p>
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