Virtual Trainings
NESPTM partners with the Association of Energy Service Professionals (AESP) to provide trainings on conducting benefit-cost analyses of distributed energy resources and related analyses.
Attendees can earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or Professional Development Hours (PDHs).
January 21, 2025 (1-3 pm ET): Accounting for Federal Tax Incentives and Other Transfers in Benefit-Cost Analysis of DERs
Description: Learn how “transfers” – i.e., when an impact on one party is exactly offset by an inverse impact on another party – can be identified and accounted for in benefit-cost analysis (BCA) for distributed energy resources (DERs). The guidance builds on the NSPM and expands upon its guidance. Tax incentives for installing or otherwise implementing energy technologies are one example of an impact that might be considered a transfer. With the recent significant increases in federal tax incentives for installing clean DERs, it is critical that they be properly characterized and accounted for in BCAs. Other examples of transfers that will be addressed are treatment of utility performance incentives, market price effects and host customer incentives. The course will present key questions to consider in determining whether an impact is a transfer or not and will explain how the determination depends upon the scope of the BCA test being applied, i.e., whether it is the Utility Cost Test (UCT), the Total Resource Cost Test (TRC), the Societal Cost Test (SCT), or a Jurisdiction-Specific Test (JST).
For information about in-person NSPM Certification training, visit the Become NSPM CertifiedTM page.
Past Virtual Trainings: 2024
Sept. 23-26, 2024 (2-4 pm ET daily): Benefit-Cost Analysis of Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Investments
Description: Designed for utility and consulting evaluation practitioners, state agencies and interested stakeholders, this course is on the purpose, process and key considerations in benefit-cost analysis (BCA) – also referred to as “cost-effectiveness” testing – of single and multiple DER investments. Attendees delve into practical application of key concepts in BCA using the National Standard Practice ManualTM (NSPM).
Sept. 24-26 sessions cover key economic principles and a framework for conducting BCAs, and discuss how to develop a primary cost-effectiveness test and the purpose of secondary tests. Attendees learned about factors that affect BCA for different DER types, options for presenting BCA results, and differentiating between BCA and other analyses, such as rate impact analyses, that help to inform DER investment decisions.
Format: Three days, each with 2-hour modules, starting with an optional BCA primer on Sept. 23 recommended for attendees with little or no cost-effectiveness background.
July 30-31, Aug. 1-2:
How to Conduct a Distributional Equity Analysis to Inform DER Investment Decisions
March 25-28 (2-4 pm daily):
Benefit-Cost Analysis of Distributed Energy Resource Investments