Methods, Tools and Resources Handbook Released: Companion to NSPM

March 31, 2022/July 5, 2022 — E4TheFuture, coordinator of the National Energy Screening Project, announces publication of Methods, Tools and Resources: A Handbook for Quantifying Distributed Energy Resource Impacts for Benefit-Cost Analysis.

The 250+ page “MTR handbook” serves as a companion document to the National Standard Practice Manual (NSPM).

While the NSPM helps to identify what benefits and costs to include in a cost-effectiveness test, the handbook describes how benefits and costs of DER investments can be quantified (monetized or otherwise).

Included in the handbook:

  • An overview of key steps to calculate BCA inputs, including important concepts (e.g., how to develop Reference and DER Cases, and determine incremental impacts of changes to the utility system).
  • How to calculate inputs for all DER impacts: electric utility system, gas utility system, other fuel system, host customer, and societal.
  • How to account for energy equity; the relevance of BCA and complementary distributional analysis.
  • Accounting for reliability and resilience, as well as risk and uncertainty, in a BCA.
  • How to calculate operating profiles for DERs.
  • Links to key resources including modeling tools, with example applications.
  • A bibliography with data sources and modeling tools for developing BCA inputs.

The MTR handbook is intended as a reference guide for anyone preparing a BCA for DERs including utilities, regulators and regulatory staff, state energy offices, evaluators, practitioners, consultants, and other stakeholders in the DER regulatory process. It can also provide guidance for parties that review, critique, and comment on BCAs. The handbook is a living document that will be updated as new tools, techniques and resources become available.

Get the MTR handbook

July 2022: New online version available, as an option to the PDF-only download.