Knowledge Problem

The Spin on Wind, Or, an Example of Bullshit in the Field of Energy Policy

The Wall Street Journal recently opined against President Obama’s nominee for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman, Norman Bay, and in the process took a modest swipe at subsidies for wind energy. The context here is Bay’s action while leading FERC’s enforcement division, and in particular his prosecution of electric power market participants who manage to run afoul

Michael Giberson May 29, 2014 No Comments

Did Ercot’s Shift from Zonal to Nodal Market Design Reduce Electric Power Prices?

Jay Zarnikau, C.K. Woo, and Ross Baldick have examined whether the shift from a zonal to nodal market design in the ERCOT power market had a noticeable effect on electric energy prices. The resulting article, published in the Journal of Regulatory Economics, and this post may be a bit geekier than we usually get around here.

Michael Giberson May 28, 2014 3 Comments

Court Says No to Ferc’s Negawatt Payment Rule

Jeremy Jacobs and Hannah Northey at Greenwire report “Appeals court throws out FERC’s demand-response order“: A federal appeals court today threw out a high-profile Federal Energy Regulatory Commission order that provided incentives for electricity users to consume less power, a practice dubbed demand response. In a divided ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the

Michael Giberson May 27, 2014 2 Comments

The Case for Allowing Negative Electricity Prices – Benedettini and Stagnaro

Simona Benedettini and Carlo Stagnaro make the case for allowing negative prices in electric power markets in Europe. A few of the larger power markets in Europe allow prices to go negative, but others retain a zero price lower limit. Benedettini and Stagnaro explain both why it is reasonable, economically speaking, to allow electricity prices

Michael Giberson May 27, 2014 1 Comment

Texas Wind Power, the Ercot Power Market, the Public Utility Commission

From SNL Energy, “Texas utility regulators expect to open investigation on wind ‘cost apportionment’“: Having seen record wind output of more than 10,000 MW in March, ERCOT in the report also noted that Texas has gone well beyond its 10,000-MW capacity goal and far earlier than the 2025 target established in the state’s Public Utility Regulatory Act.

Michael Giberson May 20, 2014 2 Comments

A Relatively Thoughful View of Libertarianism from a Progressive-liberal Perspective

Salon has published a lot of nonsense on libertarianism (e.g., anything by Michael Lind on the topic). So it was surprising, yesterday, to find that Kim Messick’s Salon essay on libertarianism was relatively thoughtful. No perfect, by any means, just better than most progressive-liberal attempts at criticizing libertarianism. The author at least gets basic points right and would surely score higher than

Michael Giberson May 19, 2014 2 Comments

Texans Should Pay Higher Taxes

From Breitbart, “Drumbeat to raise gas tax extends to conservative event“: Texans should pay higher gasoline taxes, a Texas Tech University professor advocated at a policy conference organized by the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation in Austin on April 16. He acknowledged that how transportation dollars are spent must also be carefully considered. Generally, I’m

Michael Giberson May 7, 2014 1 Comment

Awea Brags About Wind Energy’s Mediocre Performance

On May 2 The Hill published a column by AWEA data spinner Michael Goggin, “Wind energy protects consumers,” in which the reader is regaled by tales of great service and low, low prices provided by the wind energy industry. Sorting through the claims led me back to the AWEA blog, where among other things Goggin

Michael Giberson May 6, 2014 4 Comments

Easy to Dream Big when You Can Spend Other People’s Money, and Really, Why else Would You Build Solar Power in Michigan?

Crain’s Detroit Business reports: A solar power work group in Michigan is making progress discussing the possibility of expanding the current utility-sponsored solar incentive program …. But the real question is whether DTE and Consumers will voluntarily expand their programs — as environmentalists, manufacturers and solar installers have been asking the state to require for job

Michael Giberson May 5, 2014 2 Comments

New York Attorney General Grapples to Regulate New Web-based Businesses in Old Ways

The New York Attorney General (AG) had an op-ed in the New York Times presenting a curious mix of resistance to change, insistence on regulating new things in old way, acknowledgement that web-based businesses create some value and regulators can’t always enforce rules intelligently, and sprinkled now and again with the barely disguised threat that regulators will not

Michael Giberson April 25, 2014 1 Comment

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