Lynne Kiesling

Waxman-markey is Really a Command-and-control Energy Bill? No, Say It Ain’t So!

3 Comments / Economics, Environmental policy, Politics / By Lynne Kiesling

Lynne Kiesling While we’re on a carbon note … [sarcasm] yeah, I’m shocked, really, totally shocked that, as Virginia Postrel notes, the 946-page Waxman-Markey House energy bill proposal is really a piece of command-and-control legislation.[/sarcasm] The WaPost notes that the “cap-and-trade” bill sponsored by Henry Waxman and Edward Markey is, in fact, loaded with all …

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The Economic and Environmental Value of Forests

Economics, Environmental policy / By Lynne Kiesling

Lynne Kiesling The New York Times has an interesting article on how the growth of carbon markets enables us to quantify the environmental value of forests. The researchers found that paying to conserve the forest was more valuable than plantations as long as poorer nations could earn $10 to $33 for each metric ton of …

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Expectations Driving Gas Prices

Economics, Energy markets / By Lynne Kiesling

Lynne Kiesling Tim Haab did it, so Mike and I don’t have to! Yep, gas prices are creeping up again (Click graph to the right). Why? Here’s one possible explanation from Bloomberg: Apparently, non-OPEC suppliers are likely to see their supplies decline over the next year, and OPEC suppliers don’t have the capacity to make …

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A Century of Benny Goodman

1 Comment / Music / By Lynne Kiesling

Lynne Kiesling Last Saturday was the centenary of the birth of Benjamin J. Goodman, otherwise known as Benny, the King of Swing. His music, and his signature virtuoso clarinet work, changed music forever. To riff off of something my favorite musician said about Buddy Rich, I defy any sentient being not to be moved by …

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Innovations in Solar Inverter Technologies, and Their Economic Impact

Economics, Electricity, Technology / By Lynne Kiesling

Lynne Kiesling Following up on Mike’s solar policy post from last week … one of the sub-areas in which development is occurring that I consider thoughtful, and unheralded, is in inverter technologies. When an array of photovoltaic panels generates electricity, it generates a direct current, but for use in conjunction with our alternating current distribution …

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Economic Experiments on Growth Policy

Economics / By Lynne Kiesling

Lynne Kiesling Tim Kane at the Kauffman Foundation is going to do some experimental economics research (with Dan Houser at George Mason) on some questions of growth and entrepreneurship: The experiments are for the study of work and entrepreneurial behavior under different policy regimes, including taxation, welfare, and social insurance. I’ll share a link to …

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Health Care Policy

Economics / By Lynne Kiesling

Lynne Kiesling We don’t write much about health care economics here, but in many respects it does raise some of the same issues that I find fascinating in electricity, telecom, and technology industries. David Zetland has a good post today about how third-party payer health care rules lead to cost increases and overconsumption of health …

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Want Better Electricity Information? Do It Yourself!

3 Comments / Economics, Electricity / By Lynne Kiesling

Lynne Kiesling Want better information about your electricity consumption, even if your premise does not have a utility “smart meter”? Do it yourself! Here are some examples, using in-home power meters and the home’s broadband connection to collect the electricity consumption data at WattzOn, an online energy tracking and monitoring tool. The idea is straightforward; …

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More Smart Grid Q and A at Greentech Media

Economics, Electricity, Technology / By Lynne Kiesling

Lynne Kiesling … But wait, there’s more! Greentech Media’s Green Tech Grid channel lists all of their smart grid Q&A interviews (from Jesse Berst and Michael Butler), including the two that I mentioned in my post earlier today. There are also links to other resources, worthy of your perusal.

Smart Grid Q and A at Greentech Media

Economics, Electricity, Technology / By Lynne Kiesling

Lynne Kiesling Greentech Media has a couple of really good smart grid Q&A articles, one with Peter Fox-Penner and Ahmad Faruqui, and one with Fred Butler. Fox-Penner and Faruqui are two leading economists (with the Brattle Group) in analyzing consumer behavior and price responsiveness in electricity, and Butler is on the New Jersey Public Service …

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Author name: Lynne Kiesling