Business Models and Regulatory Design

We aim to support three to five states that are committed to comprehensive regulatory and business model reform to drive a renewably powered electricity system by 2020.

What Is Regulatory and Business Model Reform?

The Regulatory and Business Model Reform initiative directly engages with first-mover regulators and utilities to bust barriers and implement comprehensive market and business model reform to ensure a distributed energy future.

Why It Matters

The electricity grid relies on large, remotely sited power plants that predominantly burn coal and natural gas, and utilities rely on 20th century business models that incentivize using more power. It is crucial to develop transformative new business models that give customers choices to save money and cut their emissions, and speed the transformation to a cleaner, more responsive, and more customer-oriented energy grid.

Who’s Involved

We work with utilities to overhaul business models and advance more sophisticated rate structures, with businesses to codevelop and share solutions for integrating distributed energy resources into the grid, and with influential early adopters who are willing to experiment with and ultimately implement transformative solutions.

power lines and wind turbines over a solar field at sunset

What We’re Doing

CapEx
Examining the need for continued large-scale investments in centralized generation, transmission, and distribution architecture.

Distributed Energy Resources Valuation
Identifying and evaluating the proper market mechanisms to value distributed energy resources.

WHAT WE’VE ACCOMPLISHED

Integrated Utility Services Business Model
RMI collaborated with Fort Collins Utilities (FCU) and the Colorado Clean Energy Cluster to design a new utility business model. The integrated utility services (IUS) model (a) deploys energy efficiency and rooftop solar as default options for residential and small commercial customers, (b) does so with on-bill financing and other mechanisms to ensure no increase in customers’ monthly utility bills, and (c) preserves utility revenue. Learn More

Reforming the Energy Vision in New York
RMI acted as a strategic advisor to New York State on Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), a regulatory proceeding that aimed to rewrite from scratch how the state’s electric grid operates. It establishes a market for customer-sited distributed energy resources (DERs) like rooftop solar, batteries, and smart thermostats, and places the customer at the center of the grid equation as never before. Learn More