2026: Electricity Rate Design and Heat Electrification (EDF)
Electrification of space heating is central to achieving deep decarbonization targets, but its success depends on how electricity is priced at the retail level. While subsidies reduce upfront barriers to heat pump adoption, electricity rates determine operating costs, distributional impacts, and incentives for load flexibility. This project develops and applies a comprehensive modeling framework to evaluate how alternative residential electricity rate designs affect heat pump economics, adoption patterns, and system-level outcomes under evolving load shapes. The results will support evidence-based policy advocacy for innovative rate designs that make electrification affordable, equitable, and beneficial to the electric grid, with methods applicable across jurisdictions.
Cornell: Jacob Mays (Cornell Duffield Engineering / Civil and Environmental Engineering)
EDF: Erin Murphy (Director & Sr. Attorney, Clean Air & Energy Markets); Magdalen Sullivan (Attorney, Energy Markets & Utility Regulation)