Regulation

Property Owners Seek Wind Turbines but Fight Transmission Lines

1 Comment / Electricity, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson Jonathan Fahey observes that there seems to be little trouble finding Montana property owners willing to have wind turbines built on their property, but property owners usually fight against construction of power lines. Puzzling, right?, since wind turbines are large, moving and obtrusive, while transmission lines are not-as-big and immobile and generally somewhat …

Property Owners Seek Wind Turbines but Fight Transmission Lines Read More »

Solar Power Not Yet Cheaper Than Nuclear

2 Comments / Electricity, Energy markets, Environmental policy, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson At Master Resource, Daren Bakst and Carlo Stagnaro take apart a report by the North Carolina Waste Awareness & Reduction Network (NC WARN) that concluded that solar power was now cheaper than nuclear power.  The short version of the story is that NC WARN’s analysis treated federal and state subsidies as reducing the cost of …

Solar Power Not Yet Cheaper Than Nuclear Read More »

Do We Need “Post-partisan Power”?

4 Comments / Energy markets, Environmental policy, Politics, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson Last week scholars from the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institutions, and the Breakthrough Institute joined together to release “Post-Partisan Power,” (more here) a paper advocating substantial increases in federal spending on energy research and development in pursuit of goals including American economic growth, national security, and health and safety. They lost me at …

Do We Need “Post-partisan Power”? Read More »

How Do Plug-in Vehicles Connect with Cafe Regulation?

6 Comments / Energy markets, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson The New York Times describes one of the hazards of doing new things: your new thing may not fit neatly into existing regulatory category. A case in point: Two new cars that can be recharged electrically are creating a puzzle for the Environmental Protection Agency, which must rate the “fuel economy” of passenger …

How Do Plug-in Vehicles Connect with Cafe Regulation? Read More »

The Differences Between Renewable Energy and Renewable Power in North Carolina

3 Comments / Electricity, Energy markets, Environmental policy, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson Under North Carolina’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard, poultry waste burned to boil water to generate steam to turn a turbine generating electricity will earn RECs which can be sold to electric utilities needing to meet the state’s new renewable energy standard. Also under the law, poultry waste burned to boil …

The Differences Between Renewable Energy and Renewable Power in North Carolina Read More »

What Market Design Can Do for You

Economics, Politics, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson Medicare pays medical equipment suppliers based on indexed-adjustments to a price list established 25 years ago. It is extremely unlikely that these prices are efficient. For the past 10 years Medicare has explored the possibility of pricing medical equipment via procurement auctions. Their procurement auction plan is fatally flawed. What can market design …

What Market Design Can Do for You Read More »

Queue Jumping Privileges for Cng-fueled Taxis in Dallas

4 Comments / Environmental policy, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson Dallas has implemented a policy giving natural gas-fueled taxis rights to jump to the head of the queue at the city’s Love Field Airport. Independent cab drivers in the city are protesting. (They also filed a lawsuit. A judge has denied the drivers a temporary injunction while the case it litigated.) The privilege …

Queue Jumping Privileges for Cng-fueled Taxis in Dallas Read More »

More on Unconscionability and Price Gouging Law

5 Comments / Economics, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson [This post is second of two on Eisenberg’s essay on unconscionability. Link to part one.] Having spent a little more time with Eisenberg’s essay on unconscionability, I’m less enthusiastic than I was at first, but let’s take a look.  Eisenberg advanced two cases in his essay: The Desperate Traveler and The Desperate Patient. …

More on Unconscionability and Price Gouging Law Read More »

Unconscionability and Price Gouging Law

1 Comment / Economics, Regulation / By

Michael Giberson [This post is first of two on Eisenberg’s essay on unconscionability. Link to part two.] Use of vague concepts like “unconscionability” in price gouging laws creates problems. Businesses are not always sure what prices are legal under such laws, and as a result may price products uneconomically low or remove products from the market …

Unconscionability and Price Gouging Law Read More »

Copyright © 2022 Knowledge Problem Archive