Professor Adonis Yatchew and his research team are at the core of a new collaboration between the Ontario Energy Board and the University of Toronto’s Climate Positive Energy (CPE) Initiative. The budget for the project is $250,000 with the final report due to the OEB this summer.
The collaboration will see Professor Yatchew and his research team conduct a review of benchmarking methodologies — comparisons used to gauge the performance of Ontario electricity distributors — and how the performance is used to regulate pricing, and other factors related to the electricity system. The review will also identify new benchmarking methodologies that consider the emerging challenges to electricity distribution brought about by the broader energy transition.
“As climate change initiatives are increasingly introduced into energy systems, there tends to be upward pressure on costs,” Yatchew said. “Efficient regulation that enhances incentives for cost control has to be part of the larger picture of decarbonization efforts.”
According to its mission statement, the Climate Positive Energy Initiative at the University of Toronto exists to “develop social, scientific, technical, economic, and policy solutions to transform the energy systems, ensure energy access and production is equitable, and to help Canada become a global clean-energy model.”
The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) is the independent regulator of Ontario’s electricity and natural gas sectors. Its mandate is to protect the “interests of consumers and deliver public value that contributes to Ontario’s economic, social and environmental development.”
“Professor Yatchew is a leader in energy economics research and his team is well-positioned to help the Ontario Energy Board ensure its benchmarking methods remain cutting edge,” said Professor Ettore Damiano, Chair of the Department of Economics. “It’s exciting to think about how the data on Ontario’s electricity system that Adonis and his team will analyze can contribute to valuable insights into Ontario’s energy system and its more sustainable future.”
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