Amparo Nieto
Amparo Nieto is an economist with CRA’s Energy Practice and has over 25 years of advisory and testifying experience. She is a thought leader in the field of innovative electricity and natural gas rate designs, utility marginal cost of service studies, and regulatory policy reforms to adapt to emerging distributed energy resources (DERs).
Mrs. Nieto is often retained to recommend improvements to utility business and pricing models and has extensively testified before public utility commissions in these matters, across the US and Canada. As part of her work she has supported utilities in the design of new time of use and dynamic rate structures for electric vehicle charging, front and behind the meter distributed solar generation, and energy storage in CA, NV, AZ, OR, MN, ND, NY, ME, CT, MA, and NH. She currently directs a working group specialized in utility ratemaking.
Mrs. Nieto was a key advisor to the California Public Utilities Commission in the development and evaluation of an alternative pricing mechanism to the state-wide net energy metering program (NEM 3.0). She has also recommended market-based rate structures and standby rates for large industrial customers with energy renewable generation and/or Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technology. Additionally, she has supported enhancements to traditional utility regulatory models to strengthen incentives for an efficient and more affordable transition towards energy sector decarbonization.
Mrs. Nieto also has in-depth experience with wholesale energy markets and industry restructuring. She has advised independent system operators and regulatory commissions regarding market design improvements in the US as well as internationally in Spain, Ireland, Australia, and Mexico.
Amparo’s consulting career started in Madrid, Spain, where she was actively involved in the country’s electricity sector restructuring process. She has been published in the Electricity Journal and other journals and is a frequent contributor as a speaker in industry forums.
Mrs. Nieto holds a MA in Economics from the Institute of Fiscal Studies of Madrid, Spain and a BA in Economics from the University of Carlos III of Madrid.