Lynne Kiesling Picking up again on the blackout anniversary theme from last week, Scientific American has re-run this 2007 article on grid management and smart grid technology. Again, it is overly focused on how digital technology can improve top-down grid management, and does not mention the vast potential economic and reliability benefits associated with using …
Lynne Kiesling OK, critiquing windfall profits taxes is pretty elementary skeet shooting target practice for economists, but Tim Worstall does it so eloquently in the Register! More people want to use $30, $50, $90 oil than there is oil to go around at that price so markets do their magic thing, prices adjust and supply …
Critiques of Obama’s Oil Windfall Profits Tax Proposals Read More »
Lynne Kiesling Five years ago this week, a large blackout in North America affected 50 million people and cost $6 billion (see thKP archive from August 2003 for posts from that time). The enormity of the blackout led to a large forensic report and lots of follow-up, including recommendations designed to solidify and reinforce reliability …
5-Year Blackout Anniversary Prompts Some Introspection Read More »
Lynne Kiesling Yep, I’m gonna pile on here with my friends at Environmental Economics and other places about how consumer responses to $4 gas are manifesting themselves. To quote John (whose post is about SUV markets in particular): 1. Gas prices rise 2. People drive less 3. Gas prices stay high 4. Demand for new …
Consumer Behavior and $4 Gas: an Economics Case Study Read More »
Lynne Kiesling Last Thursday I was in New York at the final show of the reunion tour of my favorite band ever, at a big party with a bunch of folks who were also there courtesy of the world’s greatest drummer. If you look carefully behind Andy’s head in the picture above (taken from my …
Michael Giberson Solar power technology continues to improve. Retail electric utility rate for 100% wind power dips below the standard rate. Likely just for one month, since gas prices are down from their recent peak. Texas retail market under pressure, but shows signs of progress. A well-capitalized firm with an understanding of risk management issues …
The Inverted Metamorphic Triple-junction Solar Cell and Other Energy Items in the News Read More »
Michael Giberson Senator Charles Schumer of New York has asked the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to investigate the traders scheduling circuitous routes around Lake Erie for transactions that in effect flowed primarily within the New York ISO power system. As discussed here last week, in late July the NYISO sought emergency rule changes to …
Senator Calls for Ferc Probe of Traders Using Lake Erie Loop Strategy Read More »
Michael Giberson Dallas and Houston draw electricity from the same ERCOT power grid, but the Dallas area has sported lower retail power prices for the last few years. The Houston Chronicle explains some of the reasons for the differences: Houston’s residential electric power prices are consistently higher than in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, ranging in …
Dallas Vs. Houston: the Differences in Retail Power Charges Read More »
Michael Giberson Robert McCullough, the “analyst known for his work with a Washington utility trying to prove that Enron manipulated power markets” (in the words of Newswatch: Energy), is back in the news with a report sure to appeal to the economically naive in Congress and elsewhere. In his report McCullough concludes, “All available evidence …
Is Market Concentration to Blame for Record High Oil Prices? Read More »
Michael Giberson Robert McCullough, the “analyst known for his work with a Washington utility trying to prove that Enron manipulated power markets” (in the words of Newswatch: Energy), is back in the news with a report sure to appeal to the economically naive in Congress and elsewhere. In his report McCullough concludes, “All available evidence …
Is Market Concentration to Blame for Record High Oil Prices? Read More »
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