Research that Informs Business and Public Policy
Renewable energy technologies have made outstanding progress in the last decade. The cost of solar panels has plummeted. Wind turbines have become massively more efficient. In many places some forms … Continue Reading Is the Future of Electricity Generation Really Distributed?
Rising global incomes will drive increased global adoption of air conditioning. Sales of air conditioners have exploded worldwide over the last few years, driven by middle-income countries where households and … Continue Reading Air Conditioning and Global Energy Demand
I live in the northern end of the Silicon Valley and here EVs and Plug-in hybrids are everywhere. From Tesla P85s to C-Max Energis – it’s what the cool kids … Continue Reading The Economics of EV Charging Stations
There’s a lot of talk in California these days about imposing fixed monthly charges on residential electricity bills. The large investor-owned utilities in California have small or no fixed charges,[1] … Continue Reading What’s so Great about Fixed Charges?
California is finally talking seriously about changing the way utilities price electricity for residential customers. In particular, as a result of recent legislative actions, the CPUC now has some flexibility … Continue Reading Rationalizing California’s Residential Electricity Rates
I found yesterday’s NY Times article on the shifting politics of renewable energy morbidly fascinating on both a political and economic level. Basically the article pieces together anecdotes of odd-couple … Continue Reading The Politics of Renewable Energy
An aptly named picture – the “duck graph” – is captivating the California energy policy world. It depicts electricity demand net of projected renewable generation (“net load”) on a representative … Continue Reading What’s the Point of an Electricity Storage Mandate?
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