Independent regulatory authorities are a basic prerequisite for a successful liberalization process. However, contrary to what is expected, both graphical analyses and OLS regressions for a small sample of electricity and gas regulators operating in 16 European countries reveal a negative...

This study examines a field experiment in Texas that includes pricing and informational interventions to encourage energy conservation during summer peak load days when the social cost of generation is the highest. We estimate that our critical peak pricing intervention reduces electricity...

The degree of liberalization in OECD electricity markets varies considerably across countries. Commonly explained by diverging economic performances, corruption levels or government ideologies, this paper suggest another potential reason for cross-national differences in market reforms: given...

The aim of this paper is to examine the environmental impacts of shale gas, conventional gas and coal on air, water, and land in the United States. These factors decisively affect the quality of life (public health and safety) as well as local and global environmental protection. Comparing...

This article explores key market design issues to be addressed in future electricity markets dominated by intermittent renewable generation with near zero private marginal costs for generating electricity. Changing technology mixes will change market outcomes, but they do not change the...

The EU energy system is in the middle of a period of profound change. Financing the transition to a low-carbon EU economy is expected to require $2.2 trillion by 2035, requiring substantial private capital. However, investors are hesitant to commit capital due to many challenges facing the...

Energy leapfrogging may have critical implications for a world that seeks to reduce its fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions, and in which most future economic growth will be concentrated in rapidly growing, industrializing countries rather than in more mature economies. The current...

This paper examines the efficiency of the arbitrages performed between two regional markets for wholesale natural gas linked by a capacity-constrained pipeline system. We develop a switching regime specification to (i) detect if the observed spatial arbitrages satisfy the integration notion that...

Japan's natural gas industry is reliant on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) that normally requires regasification prior to consumption. Unbundling of the industry has not been enforced and while some local distribution utilities purchase gas via pipelines that is regasified by the seller,...

A considerable literature has extolled the virtues of transitioning away from rate-of-return regulation for infrastructure-intensive industries. I find that for a large-scale transmission network like the U.S. natural gas pipeline system, transmission capacity under rate-of-return regulation may...