Lynne Kiesling While I am musing on the problems with the traditional regulatory model in electricity, as in my prior renewables feed-in reverse auction post, I am going to pile on (yes, it is like shooting fish in a barrel, but it’s the first day after a long holiday weekend, so cut me some slack, …
Another Reason Why Retail Regulation is Obsolete: Atrocious Incentives Read More »
Lynne Kiesling I am enjoying my Stockholm visit very much, despite the sticker shock while shopping and dining. The discussions at the Mont Pelerin Society meeting are interesting and thought-provoking, including quite a bit of discussion of the incentive problems, and the moral/ethical problems, of the “Swedish welfare state” model. The Swedish model of health …
Don’t Follow the Swedish Health Care Model; Follow the Swedish Retail Electricity Model Read More »
Michael Giberson There is by now a fairly established body of economic history work that challenges what might be called the mainstream view of the origins of state regulation of electric utilities and offers as an alternative a nakedly public choice view that state regulation was all about creation of monopoly rents. The mainstream view …
Michael Giberson Richard Munson’s book From Edison to Enron provides a pretty engaging run through the history of the electric power business in the United States. The title actually understates the scope just a bit on each end, with Munson touching briefly on developments before Thomas Edison gets involved and discussing developments after Enron’s 2001 …
Michael Giberson As Lynne just noted, this week Chicago is hosting GridEcon, a conference on smart grid economics. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., the agenda for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission meeting this week indicates that the Commission will be issuing a policy statement on smart grid policy. No preliminary statements have been made under the …
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 …
Recommendations for Smart Grid Policy (Part 5 of 5) Read More »
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 …
Smart Grid Technology, Economics, and Policy (Part 1 of 5) Read More »
Lynne Kiesling In 1983 Bruce Yandle wrote an influential article in Regulation, “Bootleggers and Baptists: The Education of a Regulatory Economist”. His model explains how two parties with seemingly incongruent values can come together to get a regulation passed that meets the objectives of both parties. In the bootlegger and Baptist case, both parties benefit …
The Continuing Relevance of the Bootlegger-And-Baptist Model Read More »
Lynne Kiesling On Thursday President-elect Obama named law professor Cass Sunstein to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, an executive-branch office with the mission of analyzing and coordinating federal regulation. Most recently, Sunstein is known for his work with Richard Thaler on “choice architecture” and behavioral public policy, including their book Nudge. Others …
Lynne Kiesling The attention paid to the “net neutrality” debate is reaching a crescendo. In addition to the posts here over the past month and the links contained therein, see these sources: The Wikipedia entry on net neutrality; a commenter asked earlier for a general overview, and this one’s OK Greg Mankiw’s entry on the …
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