Michael Giberson The Nest smart thermostat made a bit of a splash when it was released (and countersplash from other energy equipment makers who said they offered similar features, and counter-countersplash from folks who said “sure, but not that worked so well for consumers,” etc., etc. We talked about Nest here, here, here and here.). …
Nest Learning Thermostat Featured in Reliant’s Learn & Conserve Plan Read More »
Michael Giberson Recently the Brattle Group submitted a study of resource adequacy issues within the ERCOT power system and the policy options available to ERCOT and the PUC of Texas, the regulatory authority overseeing the ERCOT system. As the Brattle report points out, ERCOT has so far stuck with a so-called “energy-only” market design while …
Hayek’s Knowledge Problem As an Issue in Electric Power Market Design Read More »
Michael Giberson The thunderstorms that tore up the Mid-Atlantic at the end of June left many thousands of people without power, sometimes for several days, during some unusually hot early summer weather. Among other things, the aftermath has been filled with price gouging complaints directed at hotels, gasoline stations, and retailers selling ice (and another). Maryland …
Price Gouging Worries in the Aftermath of Mid-atlantic Thunderstorms, Power Outages Read More »
Michael Giberson Carlo Stagnaro, writing in the European Energy Review, finds that Italy’s generous feed-in tariffs for solar power are creating challenges for both the Italian budget and the Italian energy market. In terms of investments, Italy’s experience with solar power is definitely a success… Only Germany has more PV capacity. Indeed, Italy has more …
Michael Giberson In the comments on yesterday’s post on the Jevons Paradox, Rick Lightburn notes an article on the rebound effect by the Rocky Mountain Institute, “The ‘Rebound Effect’: A Perennial Controversy Rises Again” (and see a follow up on the RMI blog). The RMI article links to and responds to, among other things, a comprehensive …
Michael Giberson Given the preponderance of government energy policies aimed at promoting technical efficiency, a careful consideration of the Jevons Paradox is in order. I’ve spent some time this summer reading about William Stanley Jevons, one of the three 19th-century economists co-credited with sparking the marginal revolution, and especially Jevon’s book The Coal Question. Most recently I’ve …
Efficiency, Conservation, and the Inescapable Jevons Paradox Read More »
Michael Giberson The Energy Information Administration has published a pair of short posts on negative power prices, one looking at negative prices in bilateral power markets in the Pacific Northwest and another looking at negative prices in RTO markets across the country. Dan Haugen has a related story at Midwest Energy News. Negative power prices may seem counter intuitive, …
Negative Power Prices in Rto and Bilateral Power Markets Read More »
Michael Giberson We ought not let Sarah Skwire’s second hit-and-run posting here at Knowledge Problem slip by without mentioning that she is also lead-off essayist in the current month’s Cato Unbound. The teaser from Cato: Literary scholar Sarah Skwire asks us to revisit the western canon’s portrayal of business and commerce. Mainstream scholars and libertarians both …
Skwire at Cato Unbound: “Bonfire of the Clichés” Read More »
Michael Giberson Sarah’s essay on reading and sympathy, explicated a bit in her post here at KP on manners, and Matt Zwolinski’s near contemporaneous remarks on the same topic, recalled to me one of my favorite ideas: the road to anarchy is paved with good manners. I mean “anarchy” in a good way, of course: “anarchy” …
Michael Giberson The bill isn’t signed into law yet, but New Jersey solar installers are probably breathing a little easier given reports that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is expected to sign a law that would boost the state’s electric utility’s solar power purchase obligation from about one-half of one percent to over two percent …
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