This training course will describe how “transfers” – i.e., when an impact on one party is exactly offset by an inverse impact on another party – can be identified and accounted for in benefit-cost analysis (BCA) for distributed energy resources (DERs). The guidance builds on the National Standard Practice Manual for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Distributed Energy Resources (NSPM) and expands upon some of the guidance provided therein.
Tax incentives for installing or otherwise implementing energy technologies are one example of an impact that might be considered a transfer. With the recent significant increases in federal tax incentives for installing clean DERs, it is critical that they be properly characterized and accounted for in BCAs. Other examples of transfers that will be addressed are treatment of utility performance incentives, market price effects and host customer incentives.
The course will present key questions to consider in determining whether an impact is a transfer or not and will explain how the determination depends upon the scope of the BCA test being applied, i.e., whether it is the Utility Cost Test (UCT), the Total Resource Cost Test (TRC), the Societal Cost Test (SCT), or a Jurisdiction-Specific Test (JST).
At the conclusion of this course, attendees will:
• Describe what constitutes a transfer in the context of Benefit-Cost Analysis for Distributed Energy Resources.
• Identify and classify impacts as transfers or non-transfers in various BCA scenarios for DERs.
• Evaluate the role of transfers in different BCA tests (Utility Cost Test, Total Resource Cost Test, Societal Cost Test, and Jurisdiction-Specific Test) and explain how the scope of the test affects the characterization of transfers.
