It is time to stop regulating the electricity industry as if it were a natural monopoly. Technology has moved on and competition must not be discouraged by regulation. Competition is not only necessary for lower prices to consumers: the particular technological developments that have taken place...

Incumbent vertical market power in deregulating markets can be anticompetitive, as seen in the current process of retail electricity restructuring. This paper uses the AT&T antitrust case’s Bell Doctrine precedent of “quarantine the monopoly” as a case study in incumbent vertical market...

In August 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a new policy – the Affordable Clean Energy rule – to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from existing coal-fired electric generating units and power plants. The new rule establishes emissions guidelines, including...

In this paper we report the findings of an experiment that examines the effects of automated mitigation procedures (AMP) on capacity investment prices of suppliers in a wholesale electricity market. Specifically, in a 2 x 2 design we examine the effects of strong and weak market power incentives...

Since the mid-1990s the changing electricity generation technology mix has resulted in carbon dioxide emissions from generation that are 32 percent lower than their 2005 levels. What role have wholesale power markets played in enabling this decarbonization? We examine this question using annual...

In The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith asserts that humans have an innate interest in the fortunes of other people and desire for sympathy with others. In Smith’s theory, sympathy is an imperfectly reflected combination of emotion and judgment when one observes someone (the agent) in a...

This paper presents and analyzes the results of a recent field experiment in which residential electricity customers in Washington State with price-responsive in-home devices could use those devices to change their electricity consumption autonomously. Doing so also required an important...

Smart metering can bring significant benefits to electricity markets by allowing customers to reduce demand or increase supply when generation capacity is temporarily scarce. To reap the full efficiency and environmental benefits of this technology, regulators must allow price volatility and...