The energy sector has a well-known industry-wide problem. Simply put, not enough people understand how utility rates actually are set.
The N.J. Board of Public Utilities and the Rutgers School of Business–Camden feel they have a way to solve for that.
The two groups have launched the Utility Regulation Ratemaking Professional Certificate Program, an 11-month, part-time program built for people already working in accounting, finance, economics, law, public policy or engineering who want expertise in utility regulation.
The inaugural cohort has 30 participants pulled from public and private utilities, regulatory agencies and consulting firms. The program pairs academic coursework with paid fellowships and covers rate design, revenue requirements, cost-of-service analysis, rate base, rate of return, regulatory policy and public utility law.
“This partnership reflects what we believe education should accomplish at its best: transformational knowledge with meaningful professional impact,” Monica Adya, Dean of Rutgers School of Business–Camden, said. “By preparing students with specialized expertise in utility ratemaking, we are helping build the talent needed in a field that shapes the affordability, reliability, and delivery of essential services for millions of residents.”
Stacy Peterson, deputy executive director of the NJBPU, said the timing matters as much as the subject matter.
“This program introduces foundational utility-ratemaking concepts at a pivotal stage in students’ education while building a strong pipeline of future experts in the field,” she said.
The shortage the program is aimed at isn’t unique to New Jersey.
Richard Michelfelder, a Rutgers-Camden finance professor with decades in the utility industry, said the field nationally doesn’t have enough people trained in the work.
“The U.S. public utility industry has a growing shortage of rate and regulatory experts,” Michelfelder said. “This helps meet that need by preparing more professionals to enter the field.”
Pauline Ahern, a financial economist and expert witness in regulatory ratemaking at consulting firm ScottMadden Inc., is one of the program’s instructors. She said the job has gotten harder as utility affordability has become more politically charged.
“As the tension between customer affordability and utility financial strength increases, it has become more important than ever that well-informed, experienced professionals provide expert testimony and advice during the utility regulatory ratemaking process,” Ahern said.
“Professionals must understand both affordability as a public policy matter and utility finance as a technical topic, each playing different roles in the utility ratemaking process.”
The program is designed to serve multiple entry points into the field. Current utility employees can use it to advance within their organizations. Consultants and graduate students can use it to get a foothold in the industry for the first time. And professionals coming from accounting, finance and other sectors can use it to pivot into regulated industries and public service.
Those pathways span government agencies, investor-owned utilities, consulting firms and consumer advocacy organizations — jobs the release describes as offering competitive salaries, long-term stability and a meaningful role in shaping utility policy and service delivery.
For the NJBPU, the partnership is about building capacity to evaluate the utility filings and financial proposals crossing its desk as the state pursues grid modernization and clean-energy goals alongside affordability concerns. Additional program and application details are available through Rutgers Professional and Executive Education.
