Electric power transmission and distribution systems: Costs and their allocation

The costs derived from installing, operating, and maintaining the transmission and distribution system have historically comprised about 2/3 the total costs of producing and delivering electricity to residential-commercial customers, and over 1/3 the total costs of supplying electricity to large industrial customers. This paper estimates the costs of transmission and distribution for nine regions of the United States for the above two customer classes. These costs are detailed for six categories of equipment used in the transmission and distribution system and the contribution to the total cost of each equipment category is determined.