Electricity

Will Pricing Carbon Raise Electricity Prices?

Lynne Kiesling UPDATE: Thanks to the commenter who alerted me that I mis-labeled my graph, and that equilibrium B should be at the intersection of S’ and D’. I may not get to update the graph Monday, my apologies. There’s been an interesting discussion going on this week building off of a Sean Casten post …

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Also in the Wsj: “There is No Such Thing As Nuclear Waste”

Michael Giberson William Tucker, author of “Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Power Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America’s Long Energy Odyssey,” has an essay in today’s WSJ pinning the U.S. nuclear waste problem on decisions by Presidents Ford and Carter to abandon reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. The reasons for abandoning reprocessing – mostly …

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Recommendations for Smart Grid Policy (Part 5 of 5)

Lynne Kiesling So far in this series I have stressed what I think are some important foundational concepts in defining smart grid, thinking about its scope and its potential for value creation, and distinguishing it as an investment category from traditional transmission construction. All of these concepts have some interaction with government policy, at either …

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Power Market Seams and the Role of Arbitragers in Market Design

Michael Giberson For class tomorrow I’m reading up on things Enron and California power market melt-down related. I’m a fan, for example, of Jonathan Falk’s 2002 article in the Electricity Journal on the infamous “Smoking Gun” memo which detailed Enron’s colorfully-named trading strategies like “get shorty” and “death star.” Among other things, Falk points out …

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Smart Grid and Renewables Interconnection (Part 4 of 5)

Lynne Kiesling One of the reasons why smart grid is generating so much interest right now is its ability to enable the integration of renewable energy into the electric power network, leading to a broader generation portfolio and potentially beneficial carbon implications. Lots of the discussion of smart grid in policy and media (including places …

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Intelligent End-use Devices Make a Transactive Smart Grid Valuable (Part 3 of 5)

Lynne Kiesling Digital communication capabilities in the network, including in end-use devices, provides increasingly feature-rich, mobile, and customizable ways to create consumer awareness about electricity consumption, electricity expenditure, and the environmental impact of that consumption. It also provides ways to change electricity consumption, either manually or automatically, in the home or remotely. In yesterday’s post …

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Retail Electric Power Market Shakeout in Texas, Ii

Michael Giberson Following up on a Monday post, in the news another report of a Texas electric power retailer seeking to acquire generation as a natural hedge.  From Platts: Direct Energy said Wednesday that it plans to acquire and/or develop new generating capacity in the US to support its electricity retailing business. Direct, a subsidiary …

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A Smart Grid is a Transactive Grid (Part 2 of 5)

Lynne Kiesling One of the hallmarks of smart grid technology is how it enables and reduces the cost of two-way communication. In electricity as in other industries, digital communication technology makes it possible and easy to have two-way communication, and to use that communication capability to automate individual actions. As we have seen throughout society …

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Smart Grid Technology, Economics, and Policy (Part 1 of 5)

Lynne Kiesling This week I’ll be writing a series of posts about smart grid technology, economics, and policy. The buzz around the idea of smart grid is palpable:  old companies like GE and new companies like Google are changing their business models to incorporate more smart grid activities and products, entrepreneurs are exploring new products …

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