OPINION: What is next for the future of utility regulation?

The utility death spiral and contentious debates over fixed charges and who pays for the grid have been debates central to the utility industry over the last several years.

In some ways, these recent debates were inspired by actions taken in response to a pivotal industry report published by Peter Kind in 2013. If Kind’s 2013 paper inspired dozens of challenges to the status quo by utilities in cases at utility commissions and a host of conference panel discussions, what will the impact of his new report be?...

....While the logic and timing of these cases was sometimes shaky, the issue raised represented legitimate questions of who pays for the grid and how. However, in practice, these debates were fights between utilities on one side, and ratepayer advocates, solar installers and environmental advocates on the other, and they were often very acrimonious. With a few exceptions (notably in Wisconsin), this wave of cases was largely rejected. Yet this doesn’t mean that the underlying issue has gone away....

...Ian Adams is the Director of Public Affairs at Clean Energy Trust