Regulation

Lobbyists for Wind and Solar Energy Ready to Fight Doe Grid Policy Study

Soon after Energy Secretary Rick Perry requested DOE staff to prepare a report on how public policies affected the electric power grid, lobbyists for the wind energy and solar energy industries struck back. In an op-ed appearing in The Hill, Megan Hansen and I identify why we think the renewable power industries are so sensitive …

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The Weak Case for Continued Regulation of the Electric Power Industry

In today’s Wall Street Journal special section on energy issues, a pair of articles presents the case for and against restructuring the electric power industry to introduce more competition. In favor of reform is Andrew Kleit: “YES: It Is the Best Way to Lower Costs and Increase Innovation.” In favor of the traditional regulated electric utility …

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Op-ed Urges Michigan Not to Reregulate Retail Electric Power

In this morning’s Detroit News appears an op-ed about a utility-supported proposal in the Michigan legislature that would dramatically limit and perhaps extinguish the state’s sixteen year old effort allowing retail choice in electric power. The introduction: Do Michigan consumers want to go forward or backward in reducing their electric bills and modernizing the state’s …

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Baseload Electric Generating Capacity is Exciting…

Baseload electric generating capacity is exciting… wait, no … baseload capacity is exiting areas served by regional wholesale power markets, and the owners of these assets and some state policymakers are anxious to solve what they imagine to be a problem. Utility Dive has a good story on the topic, “Re-regulation on the horizon? State plant …

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Blm Rejects Environmentalist Offer to Buy and Hold Federal Oil and Gas Leases

In February 2016, Utah environmentalist and author Terry Tempest Williams offered to purchase two federal oil and gas leases on property near her home in Southern Utah. Her intention, as stated in a column later appearing in the New York Times, was to keep the resources in the ground “until science finds a way to …

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What Energy Policies Ought Conservatives Favor–a Good Example of Bad Policy Analysis

An opinion piece at MarketWatch makes a bundle of analytical mistakes as it tries to build the case that persons with conservative political views should prefer the energy policy views of Hillary Clinton over those of Donald Trump. In this case I read the “Clinton” and “Trump” names as a kind of stand-in or representative for …

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On Trump’s Energy Policy: Big Players Are Bad News for Energy Policy

My commentary, “Trump’s policy may undermine pro-growth intentions,” appears in the October 2016 issue of Nature Energy. Here is one of my favorite parts: Trump’s emphasis on energy independence, in North Dakota and elsewhere, has been common among both Republicans and Democrats. President Richard Nixon declared energy independence a priority in an effort to blame the Organization …

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House Energy and Power Subcommittee Takes a Look at the Federal Power Act; One Small Suggestion for Reform

As had been announced in June of this year, the Energy and Power subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives is devoting some time to a deep look into the Federal Power Act (FPA). At the time of the June announcement the committee sent a letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) saying: As you know, the …

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Pharmaceuticals and Multi-layered Government-granted Monopoly

Mylan’s price increase of the EpiPen in late August has caused consternation and a lot of debate about the reasons why Mylan has been able to increase the EpiPen price so dramatically above its production cost. Don’t forget that production cost includes the time and resources that comprise FDA compliance costs, even for generics like …

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