VIS was commissioned by the NARUC, under USAID funding, to support the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC) in developing a Regulatory Guide for the regulatory review, approval, and monitoring of electricity distribution network development plans (NDPs). Under Georgia’s Distribution Network Rules, electricity distribution companies are required to submit five-year NDPs detailing investment needs to ensure service quality, integrate new generation and distributed energy resources, and align with transmission network developments.
Following consultations with GNERC and electricity distribution companies in Georgia, VIS developed the Guide that included provisions for the structure and content of NDPs, the categorization of investment projects included in the NDPs by type, the appraisal criteria per project type, the necessary information to be submitted by the distribution companies according to the project type, the cases where financial analysis and cost benefit analysis would be appropriate, as well as indicators and procedures for GNERC to monitor NDPs post approval.
The Guide developed by VIS provided GNERC with a comprehensive and effective framework for the regulation of distribution network investments.