Other Resources

American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy
www.aceee.org/
    The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing energy efficiency as a means of promoting both economic prosperity and environmental protection. One of its goals is to help utilities, governmental organizations, and advocates design and implement effective energy efficiency strategies for a restructured utility industry.
    ACEEE’s website contains an often-updated state-by-state summary of public benefit programs under restructuring, including energy efficiency, renewables, low income, and research and development.

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts
www.csa.com/hottopics/ern/01dec/overview.html
     CSA is a privately owned information company that publishes abstracts and indexes to scientific and technical research literature, including the life sciences, environmental and aquatic sciences, computer sciences, materials science and engineering, aerospace, social sciences, and humanities.
     Its website features an overview of deregulation in the U.S. as of December 2001, including reports on: 1) Electricity: The Road Toward Restructuring; 2) Energy Efficiency: Budget, Oil Conservation and Electricity Conservation Issues; and 3) Energy Efficiency and the Rebound Effect: Does Increasing Efficiency Decrease Demand?

Harvard Electricity Policy Group
www.ksg.harvard.edu/hepg/
    The Harvard Electricity Policy Group (HEPG) was founded in 1993 in response to ongoing changes in the U.S. electricity industry. Since then, it has worked to provide a forum for the discussion and analysis of important policy issues related to the transition to a more competitive electricity market, to encourage informed and open debate, and to supply a vehicle for contributing to the wider public policy agenda affecting the electricity sector.
   The Harvard Electricity Policy Group maintains an extensive library of over 900 background papers on electric deregulation issues, including stranded benefits, assets and costs; competitive market models; regional transmission organizations; and state and regional deregulation activities, among many others. Some of these papers are available online; others are available by mail on request.

LEAP Letter
www.spratley.com
    The national overview of state and federal actions on electric restructuring covering: Key state-by-state legislative and regulatory actions; perspectives about emerging trends from the front lines of legislatures, regulatory commissions and courts; public policy choices in guest articles, state and federal legislative proposals; restructuring, retail and wholesale competition, stranded costs and system benefits, alternative regulation, and other regulatory changes every two months.
    Past issues of the "LEAP Letter" are free on the website. Access to state and federal profiles and topical articles by electric industry experts are available only to subscribers ($339/year).

The National Commission on Energy Policy
http://www.energycommission.org/default.cfm
     The National Commission on Energy Policy is a bipartisan group of leading energy experts who have come together to develop a long-term U.S. energy strategy that promotes national security, economic prosperity, and environmental safety and health.  The Commission will issue several interim studies and release its final recommendations in early 2005.  The Commission is a non-profit organization funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and The Energy Foundation.
     The Commission is conducting original research on key energy issues, rigorously evaluating policy options, and will recommend politically viable and technically feasible solutions.  The Commission will issue several interim reports and, in late 2004 or early 2005, produce a set of long-term strategic energy recommendations that advocates practical steps in the transition to a more secure and sustainable energy future.

North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation
www.cec.org/news/details/index.cfm?varlan=english&ID=2483
     The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is an international organization created by Canada, Mexico and the United States under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. The CEC was established to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts, and to promote the effective enforcement of environmental law. The Agreement complements the environmental provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
     In July 2002, the CEC released a report claiming that power companies have reduced expenditures on energy efficiency initiatives as a direct result of deregulation. The report notes deregulation has caused uncertainty and risk for utilities and left them wary of investing in efficiency projects.

The Regulatory Assistance Project
www.raponline.org/
     The Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP) is a non-profit organization, formed in 1992, that provides workshops and education assistance to state public utility regulators on electric utility regulation. Workshops, addressed from the perspective of utility regulators, cover a wide range of topics including electric utility restructuring, power sector reform , renewable resource development, the development of competitive markets, performance based regulation, demand-side management and Green Pricing . RAP has worked with public utility regulators in 45 states, Washington D.C. and in several other countries.
     Issuesletters published quarterly by RAP provide serious and thoughtful discussion on cutting-edge issues in electric utility regulation. These papers have addressed Performance Based Regulation , Stranded Costs , System Benefits Charges , Customer Choice and many other current topics

The Smithsonian
Powering A Generation of Change
americanhistory.si.edu/csr/powering/
    Powering a Generation of Change is a project to document the story of electrical power restructuring in North America as it unfolds over the coming years. The project is being conducted by the Division of Information Technology and Society at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Its goal is to collect and present a variety of materials on the World Wide Web that helps us all better understand electric power restructuring. These materials are being added to the permanent research collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

Synapse Energy Economics
www.synapse-energy.com/publications.htm
     Synapse is a research and consulting firm that specializes in energy, economic and environmental topics. Its primary emphasis is on analyzing policies that lead to sustainable, efficient and equitable energy production and use. Its website features research papers focused on electricity regulation and restructuring; stranded costs and generating asset valuation; renewable resources, distributed generation and energy efficiency; wholesale electric markets, ISOs and RTOs; and electric system reliability, among other topics.