Embedded costs represent the total costs of all assets and ongoing charges incurred in providing and maintaining a supply of energy. So named because these costs are “embedded” in the system and cannot be changed or separated from the actual costs of producing and generating energy. Embedded costs most commonly refer to costs incurred in the past which allow an energy utility to produce or deliver energy in the present. The most common embedded cost is the capital cost of transmission and distribution infrastructure (high-voltage corridors, power lines, transformers, natural gas transmission pipelines, etc.).