Comillas Pontifical University. Madrid (Spain)
April 27th, 2026
Summary:
In recent decades, the electricity sector has undergone a paradigm shift toward greater decentralization of generation, which has revealed limitations in traditional electricity market designs and in grid access tariff structures. Regulated tariffs must ensure the full recovery of system costs and the long-term sustainability of the grid, while simultaneously guaranteeing an equitable allocation of regulated costs among consumers, even when they rely on self-generation to reduce their grid consumption. Under certain tariff designs, a higher penetration of decentralized generation with self-consumption may reduce regulated revenues and force tariff increases, which in turn incentivize further investments in DG (the load-defection phenomenon) and potentially complete disconnection from the grid (the grid-defection phenomenon), generating a vicious circle known as the death spiral. This emerging dynamic highlights the need for new regulatory and modeling approaches capable of integrating distributed resources while preserving equitable and efficient cost-recovery mechanisms.
To address this challenge, this thesis proposes a long-term bilevel mathematical model. The upper level represents the regulatory decision problem of optimally adjusting the parameters of the electricity grid access tariff, while the lower level captures the equilibrium of optimal long-term investment and operation decisions of both centralized generation companies (CG) and consumers with decentralized generation (DG) in response to those tariffs. This bilevel framework allows the analysis of the interactions between tariff decisions and market agents’ behavior over the planning horizon.
Spanish layman's summary:
Esta tesis desarrolla un modelo binivel para estudiar cómo las tarifas de acceso influyen en la inversión a largo plazo en generación centralizada y detrás del contador. El modelo representa la interacción entre regulador, productores y clientes mediante mercados de energía y capacidad y tarifas.
English layman's summary:
This thesis develops a bilevel model to study how grid access tariffs shape long-term investment in centralized and behind-the-meter decentralized generation. It captures how regulators, producers, and customers interact through energy & capacity markets, and grid-access tariff values.
Descriptors: Economic equilibrium, Game theory, Energy
Keywords: Bilevel programming, Energy markets, Grid-access tariffs, Behind-the-meter decentralized generation, Long-term power system planning
Citation:
S. Doménech, "A Bilevel Model for Long-Term Studies of Grid Access Tariffs Considering Behind-the-Meter Decentralized Generation", PhD. dissertation, Comillas Pontifical University, Madrid, Spain, 2026.
