Economic Regulation and Electricity Tariff Setting training course

This virtual classroom training course explores the principles underlying economic regulation including the regulatory fundamentals, price and quality regulation methods, as well as the routines to set revenue and tariff for regulated services.

Economic regulation is needed in areas where no functional competition is possible. For example, electricity networks constitute a natural monopoly and requires regulation to limit monopoly pricing and to set incentives for efficient performance.

Other activities like generation and supply, which are not natural monopolies, can become de-facto monopolies due to various limitations, and also require regulation. For example, the provision of such services is potentially contestable given the presence of multiple providers in the specific relevant market. However, the competitive provision of such services in response to market demand may be limited due to specific legal requirements, limited market size, limited number of companies or existence of operational constraints.

This training course explores the principles underlying economic regulation including the regulatory fundamentals, price and quality regulation methods, as well as the routines to set revenue and tariff for regulated services. In addition, it describes the role of efficiency analysis and its application in regulation.

Course Content
This training course covers six focus areas (listed below), which touch upon topics related to economic regulation and electricity tariff setting. All modules build up on each other and guide participants step-by-step through the content:

• Regulatory fundamentals (areas, scope & methods)
• Determination of the allowed revenue
• Cost of capital
• Efficiency analysis
• Quality of supply regulation
• Electricity pricing 

Each module is accompanied by examples and practical exercises.

Learning Goals

• understand the regulatory fundamentals and obtain an enhanced understanding of the price regulation methods
• become familiar with the technical details used in the regulatory revenue settings, cost of capital, efficiency analysis and quality of supply regulation
• be trained in the area of electricity pricing including servicing the whole electricity industry.

The conceptual part of the training will be supported by comprehensive practical exercises throughout the course.

Learning Method

• Insightful presentations
• Review of real-world case studies
• Practical examples.

For Whom? 

• Everyone involved in regulated electricity industry
• Employees of regulated companies,
• Representatives of industry associations,
• Staff of regulatory authorities,
• Officials from policy making institutions
• Staff with no prior regulatory or tariff setting experience
  
  

Speakers:
Konstantin Petrov, Daniel Grote, Waisum Steinborn-Cheng, Rosária Nunes and Daniel Anton

Dr. Konstantin Petrov is an energy economist and electrical engineer with a major focus in the area of economic regulation, market/industry design and applied. He has more than 30 years of work experience advising governments, regulators, industry participants and financial investors in the electricity and gas sector on multiple assignments (about 200 projects) in more than 50 countries worldwide. Konstantin has provided regulatory and policy making advice to the European Commission, European Associations of Transmission Network Operators, ACER (Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators), CEER (Council of European Energy Regulators), ECS (Energy Community Secretariat), NARUC (National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners) and ERRA (Energy Regulators Regional Association). He managed and worked on numerous projects funded by the World Bank, IFC (International Finance Corporation), EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), ADB (Asian Development Bank), USAID (United State Agency for International Development), GIZ (Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) and CDB (Caribbean Development Bank). On several occasions he acted as an expert witness and assisted national courts and international arbitration tribunal in litigation cases. Dr Petrov is also a member of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE) and has been chairing and working in several groups at CIGRE (Council on Large Electric Systems). He has been teaching regulatory economics at the training courses of ERRA and Florence School of Regulation.

Dr. Daniel Grote is managing the energy markets and strategy team of DNV in Germany. He is an experienced regulatory economist and energy market expert supporting energy sector stakeholders across the energy value chain in the areas of policy and regulation, energy market design, investment appraisals as well as regulatory and economic assessments of energy infrastructure assets and business models. A particular focus of his work relates to economic and regulatory questions related to renewables (gas and electricity) and the energy transition. With 20 years of work experience in the energy sector, he has conducted more than 50 consulting projects, supporting energy sector stakeholders across the energy value chain in more than 20 countries. He has been working for a large number of regulatory authorities, governments and international organisations on the development, adjustment and application of the legal and regulatory framework for the energy sector and the design and assessment of (network) tariff structures. He has also been supporting several network operators, energy sector companies, industry associations and investors on the economic, financial and regulatory assessment of electricity and gas infrastructure assets, as well as on the compliance, understanding and consultation on the respective regulatory frameworks. He has also provided several training workshops on the foundations and specific questions of energy sector regulation. Through his work for several regulatory authorities and network operators, he has an excellent understanding of the requirements and views of both sides of the regulatory process and a deep knowledge of the legal and regulatory framework of the electricity and gas sector in a large number of countries. 

Waisum Steinborn-Cheng is a Senior Consultant in the Energy Markets and Strategy Team of DNV Energy Systems Germany.  She has 23 years of extensive experience in the energy sector and has assisted energy regulators and utilities worldwide.  Her focus areas are in the field of gas and electricity regulation, benchmarking gas and electricity networks, designing incentive regulation schemes - price controls, and financial modelling for gas and electricity networks. Strategic projects include transaction support including regulatory due diligence advice. Some examples of her project experience comprise of electricity and gas tariff methodologies including the conceptual design and development of network tariff setting tools. She has also worked on projects related to capex assessments, regulatory compliance frameworks, customer protection issues and social tariffs. Part of her professional experience comprise of providing training workshops on energy regulation related topics to a wide range of audiences. 

Rosária Nunes is currently working as a Senior Consultant at DNV Energy Systems, within the Energy Markets and Strategy department. Her work is centered on institutional and regulatory design, energy policy advisory, tariff setting, and transaction support, including regulatory due diligence and investment appraisal services. With over 18 years of professional experience in the regulated energy sector, covering both electricity and natural gas industries, she has developed deep expertise in energy markets and economic regulation. Her core competencies include the design and evaluation of regulatory regimes, incentive mechanisms, and pricing structures, as well as conducting price reviews, efficiency assessments, cost of capital analysis, and regulatory asset base (RAB) valuation. In addition, she has played a key role in capacity building and training initiatives for regulatory authorities, utilities, and other energy sector stakeholders. She has designed and delivered training programs and workshops on topics such as tariff methodologies, regulatory frameworks, and economic analysis for infrastructure investment. Her ability to translate complex regulatory concepts into practical, actionable insights has made her a trusted advisor and trainer in both emerging and mature energy markets.

Daniel Anton is an experienced Senior Consultant in the Energy Markets and  Strategy Team of DNV.  He has provided extensive regulatory and market advise to a wide range of stakeholders along the energy value chain, working on more than 30 projects in more than 15 countries across Europe, Middle East and Asia. A particular focus of his work has been the development and analysis of regulatory frameworks and network tariff structures, the development of electricity and gas transmission and distribution network tariff tools, regulatory impact assessments and efficiency analysis. He has also been conducting a large number of market (entry) studies and market assessments for large energy companies and network operators, including demand projections for electricity (linked to an increased electrification of the transport and heat sectors) and hydrogen as well as cost estimations for renewable energies. In addition, he has been working on several regulatory and commercial due diligence projects in Germany and Europe related to electricity and gas networks, power plant assets and gas storages. He has been conducting several training courses for industry stakeholders as well as for the Energy Regulators Regional Association (ERRA).