In their initial benefit-cost analysis of the 2012-2016 passenger vehicle fuel economy standards, the U.S. regulatory agencies estimated that the benefits of the standards would be three times greater than the costs. However, their analysis was based on the high gasoline prices forecasted at the time; after their analysis, expected gasoline prices fell by 25…
How Renewable Energy is Reshaping Europe’s Electricity Market Design
We present a systematic review of the challenges to the regulation of electricity markets that are posed by the integration of variable renewable energy sources. System integration is the key to developing the required flexibility, because flexibility options exist at all system levels and within the competitive as well as in the regulated (network) domains….
Winners and Losers of EU Emissions Trading: Insights from the EUTL Transfer Dataset
This paper analyses distributional effects between participants of the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) during its first trading period. To this end, a selection model is formulated and applied to a dataset based on account information and transfer data from the EU Transaction Log (EUTL). Four different ways of adding carbon prices to the…
Determinants of energy poverty: Trends in Spain in times of economic change (2006–2021)
The debate concerning energy affordability in Europe is more pressing than ever, not solely as an energy issue but also as a broader social concern related to climate change, poverty, and health deprivation. This paper empirically investigates the factors leading to household energy vulnerability and identifies new dimensions and profiles affected by this structural problem….
Quality Matters: Power Reliability and Grid Connection in Rural Guatemala
Electrification rates have been increasing within low and middle income countries. However, the prevalence of outages is still a relevant issue for rural households when considering whether to connect to the grid. We test this by exploiting a shock in quality that unequally affected different municipalities in Guatemala during 2012–2014. Our main estimates, which are…
Differential Impact of COVID-19 on the Energy Consumption of Residential and Business Sectors
As a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, some patterns of energy consumption changed in the residential and non-residential sectors. This paper uses data from a local utility company in Florida to quantify the heterogeneous impacts of the pandemic on electricity and natural gas consumption across households from different income levels and across essential and non-essential…
Mexico’s Energy Prospects: Gains from Renewable Sources Over A Fossil Fuel-Dominated Environment
Changing political conditions in Mexico threatens the future of clean energy in the country. A competitive electricity market and ambitious environmental goals were among the priorities of the previous administration, but the current administration aims to increase revenues from the national power company and acquire control of the electricity market at the expense of consumer…
Decentral Electrification, Network Interconnection, and Local Power Markets – An Introduction
(Anti) Competitive Effects of RES Infeed in a Transmission-Constrained Network
Many countries are adding substantial capacities of wind- and solar-based power generation to their portfolios. While ownership of conventional capacities is typically concentrated, renewable energy (RES) is often provided by new, independent producers. Hence, one might expect competitive pressure to increase as RES production is ramped up. However, the best locations for RES are often…