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.” [Read more…]