We examine the role that maximum demand charges (MDCs) can play in avoiding the death spiral that some utilities may otherwise face as the distributed generation (DG) of electricity proliferates. We find that MDCs generally secure gains for consumers that do not undertake DG, and often secure...

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...

We measure the degree of market power execution and inefficiencies in Alberta's restructured electricity market. Using hourly wholesale market data from 2008 to 2014, we find that firms exercise substantial market power in the highest demand hours with limited excess production capacity. The...

We analyze the regulatory procurement of electricity infrastructure that can take the form of either a traditional core investment or non-traditional distributed energy resources (DERs). We identify conditions under which a regulated utility will engage in self-sabotage (i.e., intentionally...

We investigate how the effects of market structure changes and mergers in restructured electricity markets depend on the level of forward contracting. Following Bushnell, Mansur, and Saravia (2008), we develop a Cournot model of Alberta's wholesale electricity market that incorporates firms'...

We analyze the effects of electricity market mergers in an environment where firms endogenously choose their level of forward contracts prior to competing in the wholesale market. We apply our model to Alberta's wholesale electricity market. Firms have an incentive to reduce their forward...

We investigate the impacts of default regulated products and their design on the development of competitive retail markets and retailers' pricing decisions. We analyze this question in the context of Alberta's competitive retail electricity market, using data on the prices and characteristics of...

In Germany, substantial drops in wholesale power prices have become a regular phenomenon. While such price drops have far-reaching implications for the functioning of the power market, their underlying determinants remain poorly understood. To fill this gap, we propose a Markov regime-switching...

We analyze the effects of commonly employed renewable compensation policies on firm behaviorin an imperfectly competitive market. We consider a model where firms compete for renewablecapacity in a procurement auction prior to choosing their forward contract positions and competingin wholesale...

Many models in energy economics assess the cost of alternative power generation technologies. As an input, the models require well calibrated assumptions for the cost of capital or discount rates to be used, especially for renewable energy for which the cost of capital differs widely across...