Process for Purpose

The document argues that the design of the process used to implement utility regulatory reforms is as critical as the technical and economic details of the reforms themselves. It identifies four stages of successful reform: initiation, communication of vision, conduction, and delivery of outcomes. The paper emphasizes the central role of utility regulators in driving these efforts and the necessity of a guiding vision to prevent reforms from becoming mired in adversarial debates.

• The design of the reform process is often overlooked in favor of technical and economic details, which can lead to adversarial debates and suboptimal outcomes.
• Successful regulatory reform processes consist of four distinct stages: initiating the process, communicating the vision, conducting the process, and delivering outcomes.
• While various stakeholders can start the process, utility regulators are particularly important because they are generally responsible for ensuring reforms reach their policy outcomes.
• Regulatory processes should be guided by a vision that defines the opportunity, the benefits to customers and the grid, the expected outputs, and how regulators will use those outputs.
• Regulatory processes are categorized as either investigatory, which explore needs and options, or decisional, which aim to adopt new programs or rules.

APA

RMI (2019). Process for Purpose. https://rmi.org/resources/process-for-purpose/

Chicago

RMI. Process for Purpose. 2019. https://rmi.org/resources/process-for-purpose/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Process for Purpose |date=6 February 2019 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/process-for-purpose/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2019process, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Process for Purpose}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2019}, month = feb, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/process-for-purpose/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }