Information risk in emerging utility markets: The role of commission- sponsored audits

As public utilities and regulators begin to define their new relationship under various forms of regulations, some have questioned the continuing need for commission-sponsored audits. This study evaluates the role of such audits by examining their core purpose: the reduction of information risk (risk that a commission might make a wrong decision because of reliance on faulty information). It identifies five generic types of information that will be needed by commissions in the future and describes a cost-benefit analysis for identifying the appropriate method for mitigating information risk for state regulatory commissions