At the request of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, NERA is providing several regulatory training/capacity-building courses in Johannesburg for regulatory Staff and the stakeholders in the regulatory process. South Africa has implemented public utility regulation for a number of years, but this training program provides a timely opportunity to "step back" and revisit the basic principles of public utility regulation. The first of these NERA courses, "The A to Z of Public Utility Regulation," taught by Special Consultant Dr. Carl Peterson, was held from July 18-21, and the second course, "Electric and Gas Marginal Costs and Tariffs," taught by Special Consultant Dr. Hethie Parmesano, was held August 1-4. A third course, "Regulatory Impact Assessment," will be held in late September 2011 and will be taught by Senior Vice President Dr. David Harrison and Dr. Fred Treyz of Regional Economic Models, Inc.

Covering topics such as the role and purpose of public utility regulation, regulatory accounting, permissible revenues, rate design, resource planning, financial concepts, and tariff setting, "The A to Z of Public Utility Regulation" relied on Professor Peterson's extensive expertise on the economics of public utility regulation. Professor Peterson led an extensive group exercise to ensure the active participation of regulatory stakeholders and regulatory Staff. Plans are underway to create a book entitled "The A to Z of Public Utility Regulation." The "Electric and Gas Marginal Costs and Tariffs" training provided both theoretical training on estimating marginal costs and practical tools for applying the costing principles in tariff design. The training format included lectures, extensive class discussions, and a wide variety of case studies and group exercises.