While I was away, Arnold picked up on a couple of my posts in the context of a commentary on Krugman’s column last week about the California energy crisis. I think Arnold is absolutely right to say that “most economists would predict that California’s experience is not the shape of things to come. Even among …
For anyone interested in the financial difficulties at British Energy, and the dilemma facing the government in thinking of bailing them out, this Financial Times article gives a nice summary of the issues. Bottom line: government-driven nuclear investments and the inability to predict the future. And people complain about market processes? Please.
On Tuesday 17 September, the California Public Utilities Commission released a study indicating that the five largest private generators in the California wholesale market did not produce up to their capacity during the winter 2000-2001. Looking at 38 blackout days between November 2000 and May 2001, the PUC study concludes that because of this lack …
California Puc Study Of 2000-2001 Blackouts Adds Little Substance Read More »
I have been working on a chapter for a forthcoming book on electricity restructuring, to be published by the Independent Institute. In writing it I wrote some of my most heartfelt arguments for consumer choice and freedom in electricity markets. Retail prices have always played an important role in enabling exchange, and in leading to …
Market-based Retail Prices Are Crucial For Successful Electricity Restructuring Read More »
Has it been a week? Boy, have I had my head in my work! Except for last weekend, when I had my head in my knitting, trying to finish a sweater to take on vacation next week. I am working on a book chapter on retail electric pricing for an edited volume on electricity restructuring. …
Technology news from Hawaii — “A Big Island company will be the exclusive seller of a new bladeless-turbine technology the manufacturer says will drastically reduce costs for electrical power generation and hydrogen fuel production for use in fuel cells and automobiles,” according to the Pacific Business News. If you read the article, you’ll see something …
There’s a lot of cheery news today about retail electric competition in the U.S. and how the black eye that California and Enron have given electricity restructuring have not been fatal. This Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article reports on a study showing that Pennsylvania’s retail electricity rates in 2001 were 20 percent lower than in 1996, on …
In the shameless self-promotion department today, I am quoted in the Orange County Register’s editorial today. I think that the FERC standard market design is baby steps, and at well over 300 pages does smack of micromanagement. The important question is, do those baby steps get us toward freer, more competitive markets? Are there better …
This Washington Post editorial from Monday is very good. It discusses FERC’s standard market design proposal, which is open for public comment through mid-October, and the snipey comments that state regulators have been making about it as an unbridled power grab. I think the editorial lays out the argument pretty well, although the standard market …
I have a column on Tech Central Station today, on the importance of consumer choice and demand responsiveness in electricity pricing. I will have more to say on this over the next few weeks, but for now, it’s back to Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments.
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