Amparo Nieto

Amparo Nieto is a regulatory economist with over thirty years of energy-sector advisory and testifying experience. She has testified before state commissions on regulatory matters on behalf of utilities and regulatory commissions for clients in the US, Canada, and countries in Latin America, Europe, Australia, and the Caribbean. She is an expert in the fields of electricity and natural gas tariff designs and utility regulatory frameworks.

Ms. Nieto has advanced regulatory policies to strengthen utility operation and investments efficiency and other measures that support affordability and equity in the transition to decarbonized energy. These assignments have involved development of innovative rate designs for electricity and natural gas customers, special tariffs and service agreements for data centers and other large loads, compensation for distributed energy resources (DERs), pricing for electric vehicles, marginal cost-of-service studies to fairly price customers with demand flexibility, and computation of revenue requirements in multiyear rate plans. She has also been deposed in litigation cases related to energy matters.

Ms. Nieto has advised utilities that ensure the mitigation of risk of stranded costs and undue shifting of costs to existing customers when large loads enter their systems. She was a regulatory advisor to the California Public Utilities Commission in a statewide reform of the compensation framework for distributed solar to achieve a sustainable decarbonization process. She also led market design and transmission tariff engagements to support independent system operators and energy regulatory commissions. She directs a membership-based utility working group that discusses rate innovation and regulatory models.

Ms. Nieto has been published in the Electricity Journal and Public Utilities Fortnightly and is a frequent speaker at industry and academic energy forums.