Infrastructure Regulation and Pricing Training Course

Participants can map sector structure and identify the appropriate regulatory perimeter.

• Vertical integration, unbundling and separation models for network utilities
• Wholesale, network and retail activities mapped through value-chain analysis
• Ownership models: state-owned, private, municipal and concession-based utilities
• Exclusive rights, franchise areas and third-party access obligations
• Licensing conditions translated into pricing, quality and reporting requirements
• Regulatory perimeter decisions for contestable and monopoly service elements

Participants can specify evidence requirements and test the reliability of regulatory data.

• Information asymmetry between regulator, operator, investors and service users
• Regulatory accounting separation for monopoly and competitive business activities
• Data request schedules covering costs, assets, volumes and service quality
• Audit trails linking management accounts, statutory accounts and tariff models
• Materiality thresholds for correcting errors in regulatory submissions
• Evidence registers recording sources, assumptions, limitations and verification status

Participants can calculate allowed revenue using a building-block model.

• Building-block formula: return on capital, depreciation, operating costs and tax
• Revenue requirement reconciled with forecast demand and tariff revenue
• Control-period length selected using certainty, incentives and administrative burden
• Pass-through items distinguished from controllable operating expenditure categories
• Opening and closing revenue calculations checked through reconciliation schedules
• Revenue caps compared with price caps under changing demand conditions

Participants can establish a regulatory asset base and capital recovery schedule.

• Regulatory asset base roll-forward from opening balance to closing balance
• Asset valuation methods: historic cost, indexed cost and optimised replacement cost
• Prudency and used-and-useful tests for capital expenditure inclusion
• Depreciation profiles matched to asset lives and consumption patterns
• Capital contributions, grants and customer advances treated in asset values
• Disposals, impairments and stranded assets handled through regulatory adjustments

Participants can assess operating expenditure and set evidence-based efficiency expectations.

• Base-year expenditure normalised for exceptional events and accounting changes
• Cost drivers identified through customer numbers, network length and peak demand
• Bottom-up review of staffing, maintenance, procurement and service contracts
• Trend analysis separates inflation, scale effects and productivity changes
• Efficiency carryover mechanisms reward savings within the control period
• Opex allowances documented with challenge questions and evidence sources

Participants can estimate an allowed return and assess financeability implications.

• Weighted average cost of capital calculated from debt and equity weights
• CAPM inputs: risk-free rate, beta, market risk premium and equity risk
• Comparable-company analysis for beta estimation and capital structure evidence
• Debt-cost benchmarks adjusted for credit rating, tenor and issuance costs
• Inflation consistency between nominal returns, indexation and cash-flow forecasts
• Financeability tests using interest cover, cash flow and credit metrics

Participants can apply inflation and indexation choices consistently within price controls.

• CPI and sector-specific indices selected for regulatory indexation
• Real and nominal price controls reconciled through Fisher equation logic
• Indexation lags assessed against billing cycles and information availability
• Forecast errors managed through true-ups, reopeners and correction mechanisms
• Multi-year control periods balance commitment, review costs and uncertainty
• Inflation risk allocation explained in determination drafting and consultation

Participants can select and specify a price-control form for a regulated service.

• CPI-X price-cap formula applied to regulated service baskets
• Revenue-cap controls tested against volume risk and demand uncertainty
• Hybrid controls combine price ceilings, revenue limits and output incentives
• X-factor evidence derived from efficiency trends, benchmarks and forecasts
• Quality adjustment factors prevent savings achieved through service deterioration
• Control formulas specify index, lag, exclusions and annual adjustment dates

Participants can design tariff structures aligned with costs, demand and policy objectives.

• Customer segmentation based on usage patterns, connection type and service costs
• Fixed, volumetric and demand charges matched to cost causation
• Peak-load pricing applied where capacity costs vary by time
• Elasticity estimates used to test demand response and revenue effects
• Two-part tariffs assessed for recovery, simplicity and consumer impacts
• Tariff schedules checked for bill impacts across representative customer profiles

Participants can design affordability measures without obscuring underlying service costs.

• Affordability indicators calculated from household expenditure and consumption data
• Lifeline blocks targeted through eligibility, consumption thresholds and benefit design
• Cross-subsidies traced between customer groups using explicit transfer calculations
• Connection subsidies distinguished from recurring consumption support mechanisms
• Fiscal transfers recorded separately from operator revenue and allowed costs
• Bill-impact analysis identifies distributional effects of proposed tariff changes

Participants can link revenue decisions to measurable service quality and investment outputs.

• Output measures defined for reliability, safety, connection times and water quality
• Service-level baselines established from audited performance and complaint records
• Reward and penalty rates calibrated against customer value and operator control
• Deadbands, collars and caps limit disproportionate incentive outcomes
• Guaranteed service standards distinguished from aggregate performance targets
• Quality incentive schemes incorporated into annual revenue adjustment calculations

Participants can define access obligations and assess proposed access terms.

• Third-party access conditions for essential facilities and network bottlenecks
• Interconnection agreements specify technical standards, capacity and service responsibilities
• Non-discrimination obligations tested through price, timing and information comparisons
• Capacity allocation methods: first-come, auction, pro-rata and managed queues
• Congestion management rules address scarcity, curtailment and expansion signals
• Access disputes framed around refusal, delay, discrimination and excessive pricing

Participants can calculate and compare cost-based access charges for network services.

• Long-run incremental cost estimates network expansion caused by additional demand
• LRIC models distinguish incremental, common and residual cost categories
• Fully allocated cost methods apply transparent allocation drivers to shared costs
• TSLRIC estimates efficient forward-looking costs for telecommunications network elements
• Cost allocation matrices tested for causality, materiality and double counting
• Access charge calculations reconcile capacity utilisation, demand forecasts and unit costs

Participants can assess ECPR and alternative access methods against competition objectives.

• Efficient component pricing rule combines incremental cost and opportunity cost
• Retail-minus pricing tested against avoidable costs and replicability evidence
• Margin squeeze analysis compares wholesale charges with downstream retail margins
• Ramsey-Boiteux pricing balances cost recovery and demand elasticity considerations
• Competitive neutrality assessed between incumbent affiliates and independent entrants
• Access-price choices evaluated for entry, investment and consumer welfare effects

Participants can use benchmarking evidence appropriately in regulatory price reviews.

• Yardstick competition compares operators facing similar service and cost conditions
• Partial productivity measures use outputs per employee, asset or expenditure
• Peer-group selection controls for density, terrain, scale and service quality
• Unit-cost benchmarking distinguishes structural differences from managerial inefficiency
• Data envelopment analysis limitations considered before using efficiency scores
• Benchmark findings translated into challenge ranges rather than mechanical adjustments

Participants can run a defensible consultation and write a reasoned regulatory determination.

• Consultation papers set questions, evidence requirements, timetable and decision scope
• Stakeholder mapping identifies customers, operators, investors and public-interest groups
• Submission analysis separates factual claims, judgments and unsupported assertions
• Procedural fairness requirements applied to disclosure, hearings and response rights
• Determination writing links statutory duties, evidence, reasoning and final decisions
• Review risks assessed through judicial review, appeals and dispute-resolution provisions

Participants can establish monitoring arrangements and respond to emerging pricing risks.

• Regulatory reporting calendars align financial, operational and service-quality submissions
• Compliance dashboards track revenue, expenditure, performance and access commitments
• Variance analysis triggers investigation of material departures from approved allowances
• True-up mechanisms correct forecasting errors, pass-throughs and revenue under-recovery
• Reopener clauses define thresholds for shocks, legal changes and major investments
• Enforcement responses range from information notices to penalties and licence amendments

Participants can build, review and present a complete tariff and access-pricing determination.

• Regulatory problem statement defines statutory duties, market conditions and decision scope
• Building-block model calculates allowed revenue, tariffs and customer bill impacts
• Access-pricing schedule applies selected costing method and non-discrimination safeguards
• Evidence register documents data sources, assumptions, uncertainties and verification steps
• Consultation plan specifies stakeholders, questions, disclosures and response timetable
• Determination presentation defends methodology, findings, implementation and monitoring arrangements