A Rate Case Means Risk
Branko Terzic is a managing director at Berkeley Research Group, and a nonresident senior fellow of Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center. He served as a commissioner at FERC and on the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. He also served as CEO of Yankee Energy System, Inc.
Business strategy is among the main subjects taught in MBA programs, and books on the topic are perennial best sellers. However, there are few books for the executive of a regulated utility looking for approaches to regulatory strategy — and only one which includes the specific topic of "The Grand Strategy of the Rate Case."
This is a shame, because the rate case deals with the financial life stream of the utility, and the strategy deals with the planning, execution and control of operations. This is according to Francis X. Welch, former editor of Public Utilities Fortnightly and author of "Preparing for the Utility Rate Case," Public Utility Reports, 1954.
Welch's book is long out of print, so allow me to provide a brief summary of his insights in the fifteen chapters of "Preparing for the Utility Rate Case."
As an author, Welch was well qualified to provide these observations due to his years of experience as a regulatory lawyer, utility magazine editor and rate case researcher. Keep in mind that many of the same considerations of rate case planning should also be included in planning for the other regulatory filings, such as applications for major new construction and approval of mergers and acquisitions.