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on Regulation |
| By: | Astrid Cullmann; Maria Nieswand |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effects of an incentive based regulatory scheme with revenue caps on the investment behaviors and decisions of 109 electricity distribution companies operating in Germany in 2006-2012. We hypothesize that Germany's implementation of incentive regulation in 2009 has a negative impact on total investment, and that firms increase their investments in the base year. We build a model that controls for both firm-specific heterogeneity and ownership structure and test it with the German data. The results show that investments increase after incentive regulation, and that the institutional constraints used to determine the revenue caps influence the distribution companies' investment decisions. We also note that the investments increase in the base year when the rate base is determined for the following regulatory period. We conclude that a comprehensive assessment of Germany's electricity distribution companies' investment decisions and behaviors should account for firm specific heterogeneity. It should further include all institutional aspects of incentive regulation to design incentives that will foster investments in the region's energy networks. |
| Keywords: | Incentive Regulation, Electricity Distribution, Investments, Germany |
| JEL: | L94 L51 L98 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1512&r=all |
| By: | Jacob Malone (University of Georgia, Department of Economics, 310 Herty Drive, 535 Brooks Hall, Athens GA 30602); Aviv Nevo (Northwestern University, Department of Economics, 2001 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208); Jonathan Williams (University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Department of Economics, 141 South Road, Gardner Hall 107, CB# 3305, Chapel Hill, NC 27599) |
| Abstract: | The way in which consumers use the Internet is changing rapidly, and over-the-top video services (OTTV) are a major contributor to this trend. The dramatic rise of OTTV services has led to major changes in the telecommunications sector and greater attention to several important and ongoing public policy debates. We provide an essential component to inform these policy debates: an in-depth descriptive analysis of the rapidly changing way in which consumers use the Internet from a representative sample of consumers. At the core of our contribution are unique data from the spring and summer of 2015 that we acquired from a North American ISP that provides detailed disaggregated high-frequency information on individuals’ Internet usage. We provide insight into temporal patterns in usage within the day, measure persistence in the level and composition of usage across days, and contrast usage patterns for consumers that subscribe to traditional pay TV services (i.e., purchase a bundle of services from the operator) to those that do not. We also present results on how the level and composition of usage for a consumer changes immediately after “cutting the cord” and dropping traditional linear TV service. |
| Keywords: | Residential Broadband, Demand, Net Neutrality, Usage-based Pricing, Municipal Broadband, Cord Cutting |
| JEL: | L11 L13 L96 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:1506&r=all |
| By: | Lisa MH Hall; Alastair Buckley; Jose Mawyin |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of wind generation on market prices and system costs in the UK between 2013 and 2014. The wider effects and implications of wind generation is of direct relevance and importance to policy makers, as well as the system operator and market traders. We compare electricity generation from Coal, Gas and wind, on both the wholesale and imbalance market. We calculate the system cost of wind generation (government subsidies and curtailment costs) and the total energy costs. For the first time in the UK, we calculate the Merit Order Effect on spot price due to the wind component and show a 1.32\% price decrease for every percentage point of wind generation (compared to the "zero-wind" price). The net result of total costs and price savings is roughly zero (slight positive gain). |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1510.05854&r=all |
| By: | Roger Fouquet |
| Abstract: | This paper sought to draw lessons from long run trends in energy markets for energy and climate policy. An important lesson is that consumer responses to energy markets change with economic development. In particular, evidence suggests that income elasticities of demand for energy services have tended to follow an inverse-U shape curve. Thus, at low levels of economic development, energy service consumption tends to be quite responsive to per capita income changes; at mid-levels, consumption tends to be very responsive to changes in income per capita; and, at high levels, consumption is less responsive to income changes. The paper also highlights the risks to developing countries of locking-in to carbon intensive infrastructure or behaviours. Without guidance and incentives, rapid economic development is likely to lock consumers into high energy service prices in the long run and bind the economy onto a high energy intensity trajectory with major long run economic and environmental impacts. Thus, effective energy service policies in periods of rapid development, such as in China and India at present, are crucial for the long run prosperity of the economy. |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsg:lsgwps:wp209&r=all |
| By: | William Larson (Federal Housing Finance Agency); Anthony M. Yezer |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a new open-city urban simulation model capable of showing the urban form and energy consumption effects of variation in city size. The model is able to consider city size differences caused by wage and amenity differentials, both with and without housing and land use regulation. The surprising conclusion is that per-capita energy use is relatively invariant to city size when growth is driven by wages but falls modestly with growth induced by rising amenity. Common land use policies, specifically density limits and greenbelts, can positively or negatively affect both city welfare and energy use. |
| Keywords: | urban simulation, congestion, commuting, gasoline, greenbelt |
| JEL: | Q40 R14 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gwi:wpaper:2015-15&r=all |
| By: | Bianca Peters (School of Economics, University of Adelaide); Stephanie F. McWhinnie (School of Economics, University of Adelaide) |
| Abstract: | Reducing dependence on fossil fuels by decreasing energy consumption is a common environmental policy. One mechanism used to achieve this is to encourage increased energy efficiency. However, improving efficiency may have an opposing effect and cause an increase in energy consumption if the intensity of use changes. This phenomenon is known as the rebound effect. We estimate direct rebound effects for energy use in Australia based on household expenditure data. Our approach implements a new methodology developed by Hunt and Ryan (2014, 2015) that explicitly relates energy service use with energy source demand and directly incorporates efficiency. The results indicate that the rebound effect is high for electricity and gas use by Australian households. Due to the unique nature of our dataset, we can examine the influence of income and household composition on the rebound effect. We find that low-income households and households with young children have the largest rebound effects for electricity. The largest rebound effects for gas are estimated for households with young children and older persons. The relatively large rebound effects found here suggest that consumers gain from efficiency by improved energy services, thus policy targeting energy efficiency is not likely to be successful at reducing energy consumption. |
| Keywords: | Energy; Rebound Effect; Own-price Elasticity |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adl:wpaper:2015-18&r=all |
| By: | Eoin Ó Broin (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - CIRAD - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - CNRS, Chalmers University of Technology [Gothenburg]); Jonas Nässén (Chalmers University of Technology [Gothenburg]); Filip Johnsson (Chalmers University of Technology [Gothenburg]) |
| Abstract: | We present an empirical analysis of the more than 250 space heating-focused energy efficiency policies that have been in force at the EU and national levels in the period 1990–2010. This analysis looks at the EU-14 residential sector (Pre-2004 EU-15, excluding Luxembourg) using a panel data regression analysis on unit consumption of energy for space heating (kWh/m2/year). The policies are represented as a regression variable using a semi-quantitative impact estimation obtained from the MURE Policy Database. The impacts of the policies as a whole, and subdivided into financial, regulatory, and informative policies, are examined. The correlation between the actual reductions in demand and the estimated impact of regulatory policies is found to be stronger than the corresponding correlations with the respective impacts of financial policies and informative polices. Together with the well-known market barriers to energy efficiency that exist in the residential sector, these findings suggest that regulatory policy measures be given a high priority in the design of an effective pathway towards the EU-wide goals for space heating energy. |
| Keywords: | Residential, Econometrics, Efficiency, Policy, Space heat, Regulations |
| Date: | 2014–11–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:ciredw:hal-01205485&r=all |