IN-PERSON CLASSROOM SEMINARS

• Plain English explanations of numerous gas & electric regulatory terms and concepts, and how the federal and state rate-making process works.
• How gas & electric rate-making practices vary between investor owned utilities, municipal utilities, coops, and how these rate practices impact unregulated energy marketers.
• The jargon used in the regulatory process, so that you can understand each step of a rate case.
• Why utilities file rate cases and the types of analyses they conduct to support their proposals.
• The difference between cost of service and market-based pricing, and how these rates are applied.
• How various federal and state rate case procedures work, and how they differ.
• What the different cost components of the base rate case are, and how they are determined.
• The financial drivers for regulated utilities and how they differ from unregulated businesses
• How to improve utility profitability through the rate-making process.
• How different types of pricing structures are designed within rate proceedings

• The specifics of various natural gas and electric rate structures; how to read a tariff; and how to analyze a gas & electric bill.
• What rate structures benefit customers and suppliers, and when.
• How rate structures are designed and applied in deregulated environments.
• How to calculate comparisons between regulated and deregulated supply procurement.

Day One (Morning - 4 hours):

• Conduct a thorough review of the gas & electric industries from a regulatory perspective.
• Discuss the major regulatory changes that created the energy marketplace of today.
• Review the fundamental concepts of gas & electric rates and rate-making in detail.
• Explain how rate base and rate of return are determined.
• Discuss how items are categorized as operating expenses or capital expenses.
• Explain the federal and state rate case processes involved for both base rate increases and fuel adjustments.
• Discuss the various rationales used to request changes in gas & electric rates.

Day One (Afternoon - 4 hours):

• Review the current problems encountered when implementing today's open-access markets and customer choice programs.
• Examine the important issues that create friction between utilities and energy marketers from both perspectives.
• Conduct a gas/electric case study exercise that addresses specific issues selected by the class.
• Debate the merits of significant issues contained within the case study using the active participation of class participants.

Day Two ( 4 hours):

• Interpret a variety of gas & electric tariffs to become proficient in bill analyses techniques.
• Conduct several bill analyses with both gas and electric bills for residential, commercial, and industrial customer groups.
• Illustrate the differences between various gas & electric rate tariffs using case studies of different bill applications.
• Apply case study results and lessons to real-life situations.
• Continue with the bill and tariff analysis using actual bill examples and situations selected from the class participants which have been submitted in advance.
• Review several additional examples of increasing rate-making complexity as time allows.
• Produce comparative analysis of bundled and unbundled rates using current electric and gas pricing examples.
• Illustrate how the economics of rate design is applied in competitive energy markets.

This two-day seminar will be held at the hotels listed below or can be conducted on-site at your facilities. The seminar will start promptly at 8:00 AM and will finish at 4:30 PM on the first day. On the second day, the seminar will resume at 8:00 AM and will finish at 12:00 PM. The program includes continental breakfast, lunch, and coffee breaks on the first day. On the second day a continental breakfast, and coffee breaks are included. Attendees also receive a professionally produced seminar manual that can serve as a valuable office reference. Dress is businesscasual for all seminars.

This live group seminar is eligible for 11.0 CPE credits. Be aware that state boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. As of January 1, 2002, sponsored learning activities are measured by program length, with one 50-minute period equal to one CPE credit. One-half CPE credit increments (equal to 25 minutes) are permitted after the first credit has been earned in a given learning activity. You may want to verify that the state board from which your participants will be receiving credit accept one-half credits.