Intermediate/ Advanced Courses
Purposes, Objectives and Target Audience
In early 2006 ERRA identified the need to develop courses for mid-senior level staff, the first three New Modular Courses were launched same year and additional courses have been worked out. Today ERRA can offer the following modular courses:
(1) Principles of Electricity Markets;
(2) Monitoring Activities of Energy Regulatory Commissions;
(3) Principles of Natural Gas & District Heating Regulation;
(4) Price Regulation & Tariffs;
(5) Regulatory Information & Public Participation;
(6) Renewable Energy Regulation
The main advantage of these courses is the use of current and former ERRA member regulators as instructors. Additional advantage is that they focus equally on practical application and theoretical methodology and include the transfer of relevant direct experience.
All courses are dual-language (English and Russian) and include preparatory homework, practical exercises, simulations, participant case studies, and exams and systematic evaluation of results. (1) Principles of Electricity Markets
Liberalization of the electricity sector has been a very important development worldwide in the past two decades, and is still an ongoing process in many transition countries. The course on Introduction to Electricity Markets aims to provide a thorough introduction to the most important economic issues surrounding the creation and successful operation of electricity markets. Topics discussed include an explanation of relevant economic concepts, the characterization of competitive and oligopolistic markets, the dangers of market power abuse and the effect of the presence of essential facilities on market operation. Within this general market framework, the course covers the special issues regarding the demand and supply of electricity, the design of various market structures and the role of the electricity network in a competitive environment.
(2) Monitoring Activities of Energy Regulatory Commissions
The Monitoring Course contains teaching material on core responsibilities of energy regulatory authorities / commissions with regard to a) monitoring the behavior of individual licensees as well as the overall outcome of the behavior of a group of companies and b) to their role in enforcing rules and regulations in cases of detected non-compliance. The course provides general knowledge to help students to develop efficient monitoring and enforcement activities and policy, at the same time it aims to discuss the specifics of two areas for monitoring with special importance and relevance: service quality and competitive energy market outcomes. (3) Principles of Natural Gas & District Heating Regulation
Modules of the course on Principles of Natural Gas Regulation & District Heating include the following main themes: Natural gas and the fuel markets; Introduction to the technical operation of the natural gas industry; Demand for and supply of natural gas; Gas wholesale markets: International and European experiences; Cross-country gas market integration; Regulating access to essential gas infrastructure (pipelines, storage); Access pricing, End customer price regulation; European energy security and the gas industry; District heating systems in ERRA countries; Experience and issues with district heating (Regulatory structures; metering, price and service quality regulation).
(4) Price Regulation & Tariffs
The aim of this modular course on Price Regulation & Tariffs is to equip students with the core concepts, objectives and techniques of designing and evaluating rate structures in the energy sector. It also considers the cost effective regulation of environmental liabilities. It introduces financial analysis, one of the basic inputs of tariff development and control. Then, it describes the basic approaches and methods of tariff design, and draws attention to the often conflicting objectives involved in the process. The course explains the rationale behind the regulation of prices through which access to transmission grids can be obtained by the participants of the competitive market. It shows how the likely effects of different policy measures can be investigated, and raises some important aspects to be considered when assessing social impacts of energy policy decisions. Finally it covers the main environmental issues that emerge in the price regulatory practices of energy authorities, presents and evaluates the regulatory options and provides a theoretical background for instrument design.
(5) Regulatory Information & Public Participation
The emphasis of the third modular course on Regulatory Information & Public Participation Course is on participants achieving an understanding of 1) Regulation is more than a dialogue between the regulator and the regulated company 2) Achievement of real transparency and benefits of public participation requires public access to information that is comparable to that of the regulator, and 3) How the regulator can actively encourage and facilitate public participation. The sessions are designed to provide an introduction of the underlying principles of the topic, exposure to real situations and practical responses utilizing actual experiences of ERRA members, and promotion of interactive discussion among the participants.
(6) Renewable Energy Regulation
The objective of this 5 days training course is to provide the participants with an overview of those aspects of environmental regulation that affect the life of energy companies and of those regulating them in the most significant way. The emphasis of the training is put on the discussion of three specific areas: the promotion and regulation of renewable energies, the operation of emerging greenhouse gas markets and the regulatory tools of controlling local pollutions caused by energy companies.
Chronology of the implemented courses 2010
Price Regulation and Tariff
November 2-5, 2010, Budapest, Hungary
Principles of Electricity Markets
February 1-5, 2010, Budapest, Hungary
2009
Renewable Energy Regulation
November 23-27, 2009, Budapest, Hungary
Price Regulation & Tariffs
June 2-5, 2009, Budapest, Hungary
Monitoring Activities of Energy Regulatory Commissions
January 19-22, 2009, Budapest, Hungary 2008
Principles of Natural Gas & District Heating Regulation
November 17-21, 2008, Budapest, Hungary
Price Regulation and Tariffs
March 17-20, 2008
Principles of Electricity Markets*
January 21-25, 2008, Budapest, Hungary
*was aialable to ERRA Members only!
2005
December 12-15, 2005
Budapest, Hungary | 
