Lisa A. Skumatz (Skumatz Economic Research Associates, Inc.)
States across the nation are reconsidering the definition and design of cost-effectiveness test procedures used in the energy efficiency regulatory arena, including the State of Maryland.
Twenty years of research and measurement of traditionally-omitted program impacts, or non-energy benefits (NEBs), have provided increasingly robust and consistent results – results that are suitable for regulators, utilities, and interveners to explore options for updating cost-effectiveness test methodologies to better inform and address potential biases in program and portfolio decision-making. The literature on NEBs now consists of more than 300 studies of various types, and more than a dozen states currently include some NEBs-related treatment in their regulatory benefit-cost testing procedures.
