Divide the grid by usage (em local vs. regional. Apportion costs
accordingly, to energy customers by fixed charge, and power
producers by flow and distance. Traditionally, utilities have
received transmission costs through an average, rolled-in access
fee, or postage-stamp approach. In a deregulated environment,
that approach will lead to distorted pricing. And not just
because of transmission-line congestion. Much of the current
debate over electric transmission pricing has centered on the
various competing methods of congestion pricing, such as zonal
vs. nodal pricing, or financial vs. physical rights. Meanwhile,
a related problem receives scant attention. Simply put,
congestion pricing will not collect enough revenues to fully
recover the revenue requirement associated with transmission-
line assets. To recover the full revenue requirement of a
transmission plant, any congestion-pricing regime should include
two separate access charges. Retail consumers would pay the
first charge, a flat, postage-stamp fee