Income-based monthly fees could address affordability while reducing distorted electricity rates. California leaders tout their pathbreaking initiatives to address both the climate crisis and economic inequality. But the way we … Continue Reading Reinventing Fixed Charges
A thought experiment suggests how much rooftop solar could reduce transmission and distribution costs. California and other locations are moving to renewable energy at high speed. But even in these … Continue Reading What Can Distributed Generation Do For the Grid?
(Title inspired by the Beatles. Blog inspired this song sent by an anonymous reader.) Customers can help avoid blackouts if they are given better information and prices. Even if you … Continue Reading Why Don’t We Do It With Demand?
Tweaking the market will help, but so will recognizing its limits. After California’s May allowance auction settled at the minimum price and generated almost no revenues for the state, the … Continue Reading Understanding and Refining Emissions Markets
These are unusual times in oil and gasoline markets, but not really mysterious. Everyone has a role to play in the pandemic. My primary role – as my younger friends … Continue Reading Petro Questions and (Some) Answers
Two energy economists discuss supply, collusion, jobs, and the impact on gasoline prices. This week’s blog post is a podcast. Last Wednesday, I sat down (from a safe 2000 mile … Continue Reading The Policy and Politics of the COVID-19 Oil Market Crash
Economists can’t predict the future, but economics can help improve policy today. Oil markets aren’t the first thing that hardly anyone thinks about when reading updates on the novel coronavirus. … Continue Reading Oil Market Impacts of COVID-19