{"title":"Trends and drivers of distribution utility costs in the United States: A descriptive analysis from 2008 to 2022","authors":"Nicholas Crowley, Daniel McLeod","doi":"10.1016/j.tej.2024.107397","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In 2022, distribution utility costs per customer rose an average of nearly 7% among a sample of 75 U.S. distribution utilities. Although this growth rate substantially exceeds the historical average growth rate over fifteen years (3.85%), it is substantially lower than the growth in input prices faced by distribution utilities. The price of distribution utility plant, for example, rose at a rate above 17% in some regions of the country during the same time period. We compare these findings with recent trends of other factors that drive the cost of retail electricity prices, noting that distribution operating costs represent only 2.0% of total electric utility cost to serve, while a much larger portion of costs pertain to the cost of power production.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":35642,"journal":{"name":"Electricity Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Electricity Journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040619024000320","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In 2022, distribution utility costs per customer rose an average of nearly 7% among a sample of 75 U.S. distribution utilities. Although this growth rate substantially exceeds the historical average growth rate over fifteen years (3.85%), it is substantially lower than the growth in input prices faced by distribution utilities. The price of distribution utility plant, for example, rose at a rate above 17% in some regions of the country during the same time period. We compare these findings with recent trends of other factors that drive the cost of retail electricity prices, noting that distribution operating costs represent only 2.0% of total electric utility cost to serve, while a much larger portion of costs pertain to the cost of power production.
Electricity JournalBusiness, Management and Accounting-Business and International Management
CiteScore
5.80
自引率
0.00%
发文量
95
审稿时长
31 days
期刊介绍:
The Electricity Journal is the leading journal in electric power policy. The journal deals primarily with fuel diversity and the energy mix needed for optimal energy market performance, and therefore covers the full spectrum of energy, from coal, nuclear, natural gas and oil, to renewable energy sources including hydro, solar, geothermal and wind power. Recently, the journal has been publishing in emerging areas including energy storage, microgrid strategies, dynamic pricing, cyber security, climate change, cap and trade, distributed generation, net metering, transmission and generation market dynamics. The Electricity Journal aims to bring together the most thoughtful and influential thinkers globally from across industry, practitioners, government, policymakers and academia. The Editorial Advisory Board is comprised of electric industry thought leaders who have served as regulators, consultants, litigators, and market advocates. Their collective experience helps ensure that the most relevant and thought-provoking issues are presented to our readers, and helps navigate the emerging shape and design of the electricity/energy industry.