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Power & Infrastructure

Regulated Utilities Sector Primer

A 42-page primer plus Excel valuation model on regulated utility equity analysis: rate base, allowed and earned ROE, the EPS build, FFO/debt and P/E screening.

15 Sections 42 Pages PDF + Excel

PDF Only

The full primer in PDF format

£25 / ~$32
  • ✓ 42-page sector primer
  • ✓ Worked valuations
  • ✓ Screening thresholds
Buy PDF - £25

Excel Model

Plug-and-play valuation template

£45 / ~$58
  • ✓ Pre-built valuation model
  • ✓ Sensitivity tables
  • ✓ Scenario toggles
Buy Model - £45
Best Value

PDF + Model

Everything you need in one package

£59 / ~$76 £70
  • ✓ 42-page sector primer
  • ✓ Valuation model (.xlsx)
  • ✓ Save £11 vs buying separately
Buy Bundle - £59
Complete Power & Infrastructure Library

Three primers, three Excel models

Regulated Utilities, Renewables & IPPs, and Transport Infrastructure. Everything at ~25% off

£210 £159 / ~$205
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Inside the primer

The 15-section contents, a worked valuation page, and the Excel dashboard.

The rate-base growth by cost-of-equity sensitivity grid: 25 cells each re-running the high-growth utility's free-cash-flow-to-equity build, the centre cell reproducing the $54.96 per share headline at 11% rate-base growth and a 9% cost of equity, beneath a cross-check showing why the P/E premium bands sit well above the worked valuation.

Table of Contents

  1. 01 How Regulated Utilities Make Money
  2. 02 Listed Utility Types
  3. 03 The Capex and Rate-Case Ladder
  4. 04 Segments and Sub-Markets
  5. 05 Revenue Drivers: Generic Build
  6. 06 Cost Structure: Lag, O&M and Earned ROE
  7. 07 Valuation Frameworks
  8. 08 Worked Example: Free Cash Flow to Equity
  9. 09 Applied Cases: P/E Premium and Growth
  10. 10 Applied Cases: Credit and Payout
  11. 11 Applied Cases: Hybrids and Rate Cases
  12. 12 The Companies in This Primer
  13. 13 Key Metrics and Screening
  14. 14 Risks, Benchmarks and Case Study
  15. 15 Glossary and Cheat Sheet

42 pages · 15 sections · 2 worked archetypes

The Excel model

The model's sensitivity view: a live grid re-running the full rate-base roll-forward DCF with regulatory lag at each rate-base growth and cost-of-equity pair, the value surface plotted alongside and the centre cell reproducing the headline value per share.

Educational material for professional use. This primer and its model are not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security, and they are not personalised. Worked valuations use illustrative calibrations, not fair-value estimates for any company.

A regulated utility earns what its regulator allows: a return on the equity share of its rate base, set in a rate case and held until the next one. Growth therefore comes from growing the rate base, and the two questions that decide the equity are how fast the base can grow and whether the balance sheet can fund it without issuing shares. A price-to-earnings premium is the market paying for the first; the FFO/debt ratio is the credit market policing the second.

The primer builds those tools in order: how a regulated utility makes money, the listed company types, the capex and rate-case ladder, then the revenue build and the cost side with regulatory lag, operating costs and earned ROE. Two worked examples run free cash flow to equity from first input to value per share, earned net income less the increase in the regulated equity book, discounted at the cost of equity, a high-growth utility and a steady compounder, before applied cases on NextEra Energy, Duke Energy, Southern Company, Dominion Energy, American Electric Power and Sempra. Screening closes with rate-base growth, FFO/debt headroom, payout and the P/E premium read as a growth screen.

Free guides on the site cover the individual pieces, so you can revise one idea without reopening the PDF: rate base, allowed vs earned ROE, allowed ROE benchmarks, forward vs historical test years, the regulated EPS build, FFO/debt and the funding gate, FFO/debt benchmarks and P/E premiums and rate-base growth. Research profiles for NextEra, Duke, Southern, Dominion, AEP and Sempra run the same screens on filed results. The companion Excel model spans thirteen sheets, from two archetype tabs through the rate-base roll-forward, the FFO/debt headroom and funding screens to a live sensitivity grid, so swapping in your own utility rebuilds the valuation from the rate base up.

Sheets: Quick Start, Instructions, Assumptions, High-Growth Utility, Steady Compounder, Valuation Summary, Rate Base & ROE, FFO Debt Headroom, Funding Plan, Dividend & Payout, Jurisdiction ROE, Sensitivity, Dashboard.

See this methodology applied to a real company:

NextEra Energy (NEE) →