“Smart Regulation for Smart Grids”

Climate change and security of supply policies are driving us towards a decarbonization of the
electricity system. It is in this context that smart grids are being discussed. Electricity grids, and hence
their regulatory frameworks, have a key role to play in facilitating this transformation of the electricity
system. In this paper, we analyze what is expected from grids and what are the regulatory tools that
could be used to align the incentives of grid companies and grid users with what is expected from
them. We look at three empirical cases to see which regulatory tools have already been applied and
find that smart grids need a coherent regulatory framework addressing grid services, grid technology
innovation and grid user participation to the ongoing grid innovation. The paper concludes with what
appears to be a smart regulation for smart grids.