Michael Giberson I was interested when one of the local news shows ended their 6 o’clock news segment yesterday on the proposed purchase of Xcel’s Lubbock electric system by Lubbock Power & Light by saying, “Coming up tonight on NewsChannel 11 at ten we hear from an economist and teacher who tells us the other …
Michael Giberson Seeking Alpha has begun publishing transcripts of quarterly corporate earnings calls. Typically these calls are discussions presented by the CEO and other corporate officers followed by Q&A with financial analysts. The calls offer a more “inside look” at company operations than you get from reading newspaper or magazine stories or even trade press. …
What the Fpl 2009 3q Earnings Call Transcript Says About the Texas Retail Market Read More »
Michael Giberson The city of Lubbock Texas has had two competing electric power companies since 1917. If a just announced deal goes through, competition will be eliminated. The new “official story” is that competition produced inefficiency, but this view is in stark contrast to old “official story” as told in the “The History of Lubbock …
The (soon to Be Revised) History of Electric Competition in Lubbock Read More »
Michael Giberson This morning, November 4, municipal utility Lubbock Power & Light and local regulated utility Xcel/Southwestern Public Service announced that the city utility will buy out the Xcel distribution system within the city and LP&L would become the monopoly retail power provider. The press conference hosted by the city emphasized the costliness of maintaining …
Breaking News: Retail Power Competition To End In Lubbock After More Than 90 Years Read More »
Michael Giberson A discovery of significant amounts of oil in Ghana has inspired a great deal of inquiry into how the country can avoid falling victim to the “resource curse,” the surprisingly low levels of economic development and weakening of political and social institutions sometimes associated with discovery and exploitation of valuable natural resources. In …
Ghana and Its Newfound Oil: Can It Use the Alaska Model to Avoid the Resource Curse? Read More »
Michael Giberson Daniel Yergin and Robert Ineson have an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal discussing the development and implications of natural gas from shale in the U.S. market. Not much will be new to you if you’ve been following the commentary here for a while, but they do provide a very good, general overview. …
Natural Gas from Shale: Long Lasting or Going Fast? Read More »
Michael Giberson Yesterday’s post on the Gazprom take-or-pay contract dispute mentions a now classic article by Scott Masten and Keith Crocker, “Efficient adaptation in long-term contracts: Take-or-pay provisions for natural gas” (American Economic Review, 1985). You may wonder if there is newer work on take-or-pay contracting potentially relevant to the case of Gazprom and its …
Take-or-Pay Contracts: Lessons from Brazil and Bolivia Read More »
Michael Giberson Al Roth draws attention to a New York Times column, “The art of blackmail,” which includes the curious phrase, “sanitized by lawyering” (pointing out that blackmail is illegal, but negotiating a settlement in lieu of filing a lawsuit in which the unpleasant matter would be disclosed is legal). Apparently blackmail is one of …
Michael Giberson Shifting world natural gas supply conditions have put the squeeze on long-term gas supply contracts between Russian gas giant Gazprom and its European customers. A summary from the Wall Street Journal: European energy companies, faced with weakening demand and plentiful lower-cost fuel supplies, have bought far less natural gas from Russia’s OAO Gazprom …
Gazprom, Europe, and Long-Term Take-or-Pay Contracts Read More »
Michael Giberson A week or so ago I posted, “Smart meter benefits mostly going to utilities so far,” riffing off a Forbes.com story, “Smart Meters: Not So Sharp For Consumers.” Today, Tyler Hamilton suggests in a post about smart meters that it is a good idea to focus on the utility benefits of smart meters …
Smart Meter Benefits Should Mostly Go to Utilities, Initially Read More »
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