Lynne Kiesling From Reason, a good read from Steve Chapman on energy efficiency, particularly stricter fuel efficiency mandates. He does a good job of doing something that not enough people think about: people object to policies that will increase the price of gasoline (such as a gas tax, a carbon tax, or carbon trading), but …
Lynne Kiesling This entry at Wired’s blog Autopia points out a new National Petroleum Council study that says that the U.S. will have to develop lots of alternate energy sources over the next 25 years, and that until we do so, expect gas prices to remain high.
Michael Giberson One of the difficulties that beset planned economies is that without good prices for retail goods, it becomes difficult to price capital goods well. Of course, without good prices for capital goods, it become hard to allocate capital goods to their best use, and resources become wasted. (I think we can credit Ludwig …
(Somewhat Technical) Perils of Regulation: The Shrinking Proxy Group Read More »
Michael Giberson A surge in the demand for ethanol — touted as a greener alternative to gasoline — could have a serious environmental downside for the Chesapeake Bay, because more farmers growing corn could mean more pollution washing off farm fields, a new study warned yesterday. A Washington Post story on the study paints a …
Michael Giberson Raymond J. Learsy, writing in the Huffington Post, is incredulous that “over a span of two weeks during the Aspen Ideas Festival and the Aspen Energy Conference” no one had the sense to bring up the one idea offering a solution to problems like our national security being at risk, our environment being …
Michael Giberson From The Star-Ledger: U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez today urged a federal agency to hold hearings into whether the company that runs the regional power grid is undermining the work of a monitor whose job is to guard against manipulation of electricity prices. In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Menendez (D-N.J.) …
U.S. Senator Weighs in on PJM Dispute with Market Monitor Read More »
Lynne Kiesling Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal had an article by Rebecca Smith that discussed some of the most innovative residential electricity service offerings in the country. She accurately points out how the combination of dynamic pricing and innovative end-user technology can empower residential customers to observe their actual electricity use, control their own behavior, and …
Pricing and Technology Combine To Help Consumers Manage Energy Costs Read More »
Lynne Kiesling How Biofuels Could Starve the Poor is an article in the May/June 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs by Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer. It’s a well-written, thorough analysis of the widespread effects of government policies favoring biofuels. Their focus is international, discussing EU initiatives on biodiesel as well as Brazil’s experience with cane-based …
Michael Giberson The Philadelphia Inquirer ran an excellent story about the PJM electric power market, market performance on high demand days, and the growing interest in managing demand by engaging consumers. Excerpts: It was at 4 p.m. last Aug. 2, toward the end of a midsummer heat wave, when the Philadelphia region’s power-plant fleet began …
Every Consumer Benefits from Small Reductions in Peak Demand Read More »
Michael Giberson Proposals to increase government oversight of the energy markets, particularly over-the-counter trading, are unlikely to reduce volatility in those markets, some market analysts predict. So begins a Dow Jones Newswire story on the reaction to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report on “excessive speculation” in natural gas markets. (I discussed the report …
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