Electricity

Ownership Structures As Alternatives To Traditional Regulation?

Lynne Kiesling I have taken advantage of the relative liberty and calm of the past three days to work on an overdue paper with a co-author, to whom I owe my share of the work. The question is this: in a physical network that retains some natural monopoly characteristics while some of the rest of …

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Peak Oil Optimist On California Electricity

Lynne Kiesling Rob over at Peak Oil Optimist has a post with further ruminations on the prospects for electricity in California this summer in the context of the Pacific Northweste drought. Rob accurately points out something that I overlooked the other day, which is the vital role that transmission constraints will play in whether or …

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Wsj Article On Txu’s Feather Ruffling, But That’s Not What Bothers Me

Lynne Kiesling Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal had an interesting front-page article (subscription required) by Rebecca Smith on TXU, the legacy Texas utility that is following unconventional utility strategies in its approach to Texas’s restructured retail electricity market. Smith’s article focuses extensively on TXU’s changes to its customer disconnection policies. TXU follows a 26-day late payment …

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Should Governments Provide Price Signals? No, They Can’t Do It

Lynne Kiesling Ed Reid tried to post the following comment on my post below regarding the GAO’s report on energy demand in the 21st century: I am concerned about the implications of “providing clear and consistent signals to energy markets”, as opposed to allowing free communication of clear signals among market participants. The US energy …

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New Gao Report On Energy Demand In The 21st Century

Lynne Kiesling On Wednesday the General Accounting Office issued a report on prospects for meeting energy demand in the 21st century. From the abstract: America’s demand for energy has, in recent decades, outpaced its ability to supply energy. As a result, the country has witnessed rapid price increases and volatility in some markets, such as …

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