Blogging at the Energy Institute at Haas blog
Posting on Bluesky @severinborenstein
Severin Borenstein
Last
Updated December 30, 2024
Positions:
---
Professor of the Graduate School in the Economic Analysis and Policy Group
of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley
---
Faculty Director of the Energy Institute
at the Haas School of Business
--- Affiliated Professor, Department of Agricultural & Resource
Economics, U.C. Berkeley
--- Affiliated Faculty, Energy
& Resources Group, U.C. Berkeley
--- Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research
--- Member, Board of Governors, California Independent System Operator
Click here for bio, CV and photos
Contact
Information:
Office
Hours: Meetings are by appointment
(please email me).
Email: severinborenstein@berkeley.edu
WWW: http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/borenste
Haas School of Business
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-1900
Energy Institute at Haas
Giannini Hall
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-5180
Journal
Publications: (Google
Scholar Profile)
The
Distributional Effects of US Tax Credits for Heat Pumps, Solar Panels, and
Electric Vehicles, National Tax
Journal, forthcoming (with Lucas
Davis) [blog
posts]
“The
Economics of Electricity Reliability”,
Journal of Economic Perspectives,
2023, 37(4), 181-206, (with James Bushnell and Erin
Mansur).
“Carbon
Pricing, Clean Electricity Standards, and Clean Electricity Subsidies on the
Path to Zero Emissions”, NBER
Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy, 2023, 4, 125-176 (with Ryan Kellogg) [blog
post]
“Do Two
Electricity Pricing Wrongs Make a Right? Cost Recovery, Externalities, and
Efficiency”, American Economic
Journal: Economic Policy, 2022, 14(4), pp.
80-110, (with James Bushnell) [blog
post]
“Headwinds and
Tailwinds: Implications of Inefficient Retail Energy Pricing for Energy
Substitution”, NBER Environmental and
Energy Policy and the Economy, 2022, 3, pp. 37-70 (with
James Bushnell) [blog
post]
“Expecting the Unexpected: Emissions Uncertainty and Environmental Market Design”, American Economic Review, November 2019, 109(11), pp. 3953-3977 (with James Bushnell, Frank A. Wolak, and Matthew Zaragoza-Watkins). [related blog posts]
“The Private Net
Benefits of Residential Solar PV: The Role of Electricity Tariffs, Tax
Incentives and Rebates”, Journal of
the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 4, September 2017.
"The
Distributional Effects of U.S. Clean Energy Tax Credits", NBER Tax Policy and the Economy, 2016, 30(1), 191-234 (with Lucas Davis). [blog
post]
“The Power and the Limits of Industrial Organization”, Review of Industrial Organization, May 2016.
“The U.S. Electricity Industry After 20 Years of Restructuring”, Annual Review of Economics, 2015, 7 (with James Bushnell). [blog post]
"A
Microeconomic Framework for Evaluating Energy Efficiency Rebound And Some
Implications", Energy
Journal, January 2015, 36(1), pp. 1-21.
"The
Incidence of an Oil Glut: Who Benefits from Cheap Crude Oil in the
Midwest?", Energy Journal, January 2014, 35(1), pp. 15-33 (with
Ryan Kellogg). [blog
post]
“Effective
and Equitable Adoption of Opt-In Residential Dynamic Electricity Pricing”, Review
of Industrial Organization ,March 2013 him, 42(2), pp. 127-160.
“The Private and Public Economics of Renewable Electricity Generation”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(1), Winter 2012.
"Career Concerns, Inaction and Market Inefficiency: Evidence from utility regulation", Journal of Industrial Economics, 60(2), June 2012 (ewith Meghan Busse and Ryan Kellogg).
"The
Redistributional Impact of Non-Linear Electricity
Pricing", American Economic
Journal: Economic Policy, 4(3),
August 2012.
"The Equity and Efficiency of Two-Part Tariffs in U.S. Natural Gas Markets" (with Lucas Davis), Journal of Law and Economics, 55(1), February 2012.
“Why Can’t U.S. Airlines Make Money?”, American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 101(5), May 2011. A long version is available as “On the Persistent Financial Losses of U.S. Airlines: A Preliminary Exploration,” NBER Working Paper #16744, January 2011.
"Inefficiencies and Market Power in Financial Arbitrage: A Study of California's Electricity Markets" (with James Bushnell, Christopher Knittel, and Catherine Wolfram), Journal of Industrial Economics, 56(2), June 2008.
"Do Investors Forecast Fat Firms? Evidence from the Gold Mining Industry,'' (with Joe Farrell), Rand Journal of Economics, 38(Autumn 2007).
"Wealth Transfers Among Large Customers from Implementing Real-Time Retail Electricity Pricing," The Energy Journal, 28(2), 2007.
"Customer Risk from Real-Time Retail Electricity Pricing: Bill Volatility and Hedgability," The Energy Journal, 28(2), 2007.
"The Long-Run Efficiency of Real-Time Electricity Pricing," Energy Journal, 26(3) (2005).
"On the Efficiency of Competitive Electricity Markets With Time-Invariant Retail Prices," (with Stephen Holland) Rand Journal of Economics, 36(Autumn 2005).
"The Impact of Bankruptcy on Airline Service Levels" (with Nancy Rose ), American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 93(May 2003).
“Measuring Market Inefficiencies in California's Restructured Wholesale Electricity Market,'' (with James Bushnell and Frank Wolak), American Economic Review, 92(December 2002).
“Sticky Prices, Inventories, and Market Power in Wholesale Gasoline Markets'' (with Andrea Shepard ), Rand Journal of Economics, 33(Spring 2002).
"The Trouble with Electricity Markets: Understanding California's Restructuring Disaster,'' Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16(Winter 2002)
"Economics and Electronic Commerce" (with Garth Saloner), Journal of Economic Perspectives, 15(Winter 2001).
"The Competitive Effects of Transmission Capacity in a Deregulated Electricity Industry" (with James Bushnell and Steven Stoft), Rand Journal of Economics, 31(Summer 2000). (Also, some brief Supplementary Materials are available)
"Exercising Market Power in Proprietary Aftermarkets," (with Jeffrey MacKie-Mason and Janet Netz), Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 9(Summer 2000).
"Is Cost Cutting Evidence of X-Inefficiency?" (with Joe Farrell), American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 90(May 2000).
"Market Power in Electricity Markets: Beyond Concentration Measures" (with James Bushnell and Christopher R. Knittel), Energy Journal, 20(4, 1999).
"An Empirical Analysis of Market Power in a Deregulated California Electricity Market" (with James Bushnell), Journal of Industrial Economics, 47(September 1999).
"Why Do All the Flights Leave at 8 a.m.? Competition and Departure-Time Differentiation in Airline Markets" (with Janet Netz), International Journal of Industrial Organization, 17(July 1999).
"Do Gasoline Prices Respond Asymmetrically to Crude Oil Price Changes?" (with Colin Cameron and Richard Gilbert), Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112(February 1997).
"Settling for Coupons: Discount Contracts as Compensation and Punishment in Antitrust Lawsuits," Journal of Law and Economics, 39(October 1996).
"Market Power in California Electric Markets" (with James Bushnell, Edward Kahn, and Steven Stoft), Utilities Policy, 5(3/4, 1996).
"Dynamic Pricing in Retail Gasoline Markets" (with Andrea Shepard), Rand Journal of Economics, 27(Autumn 1996).
"Bankruptcy and Pricing Behavior in U.S. Airline Markets" (with Nancy Rose), American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 85(May 1995).
"Antitrust Policy in Aftermarkets," (with Jeffrey MacKie-Mason and Janet Netz), Antitrust Law Journal, 63(Winter 1995).
"Competition and Price Dispersion in the U.S. Airline Industry," (with Nancy Rose), Journal of Political Economy, 103(August 1994).
"The Evolution of U.S. Airline Competition," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7(Spring 1992).
"Selling Costs and Switching Costs: Explaining Retail Gasoline Margins," Rand Journal of Economics, 22(Autumn 1991).
"The Dominant-Firm Advantage in Multi-Product Industries: Evidence from the U.S. Airlines," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106(November 1991).
"Carrot and Yardstick Regulation: Enhancing Market Performance with Output Prizes," (with Mark Bagnoli), Journal of Regulatory Economics, 3(June 1991).
"Airline Mergers, Airport Dominance, and Market Power," American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 80 (May 1990).
"Hubs and High Fares: Dominance and Market Power in the U.S. Airline Industry," Rand Journal of Economics, 20(Autumn 1989).
"How to Carve a Medical Degree: Human Capital Assets in Divorce Settlements," (with Paul Courant), American Economic Review, 79(December 1989).
"The Economics of Costly Risk Sorting in Competitive Insurance Markets," International Review of Law and Economics, 9(June 1989).
"Market Incentives for Safe Commercial Airline Operation," (with Martin Zimmerman), American Economic Review, 78(December 1988).
"On the Efficiency of Competitive Markets for Operating Licenses," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 103(May 1988).
"Price
Discrimination in Free-Entry Markets," Rand
Journal of Economics, 16(Autumn 1985).
Other Publications:
“No,
California’s rooftop solar market isn’t dying” San Jose Mercury News and East
Bay Times, April 26, 2024
“California’s
rooftop solar bias is pointing us in the wrong direction,” San Jose Mercury News and East Bay Times, December 13, 2022
“The
Economics of Decarbonizing Houses,” Milken
Institute Review, Third Quarter 2022
“A
California gas tax compromise that’s built to last,” San Jose Mercury News and
East Bay Times, June 22, 2022
“Betting
on cryptocurrency to gird Texas’ grid is magical thinking,” Houston Chronicle, April 18, 2022
“It’s time for rooftop
solar to compete with other renewables,” Nature Energy, April 7, 2022
“Sorry,
rooftop solar supporters, California incentives really do punish the poor,”
Los Angeles Times, March 28, 2022
“California’s
Misguided Solar Rooftop Debate,” San
Francisco Examiner, January 24, 2022
“Gas
prices actually aren’t that high”, Washington
Post, December 2, 2021
“Energy
whiz Severin Borenstein on keeping the lights on and
the fires out after PG&E’s bankruptcy”,
Los Angeles Times, January 16,
2019
“Forget
limiting Uber and Lyft vehicles to reduce congestion”, San Francisco Chronicle, December 21, 2018
“Forget
the gas tax. Let's get to the bottom of California's 22-cents-a-gallon mystery
surcharge”, Los Angeles Times,
October 11, 2018
“What
Does Daylight Saving Time Really Save?” San
Jose Mercury News and East Bay Times,
September 27, 2018
“Keep
California oil in the ground? The goal is good, but the policy doesn't pencil
out”, Los Angeles Times, August
16, 2018
“Mystery
Gas Charge Costs California Families $1,200 Since 2015” , San Jose Mercury News and East Bay Times, October 30, 2017
“Incandescent
bulbs need to go in trash today”, San
Jose Mercury News and East Bay Times,
January 6, 2017
“An Rx for cap
and trade”, Sacramento Bee,
August 11, 2016
“The Economics of
Fixed Cost Recovery by Utilities”, The
Electricity Journal, 29 (2016), 5-12
Smug About Your Solar Rooftop? Not So Fast, Los Angeles Times, January 20, 2016
Is electricity’s future really in the solar panels on your roof? Orange County Register, August 2, 2015. (version also published in Modesto Bee)
“Learning to love paying 10 cents more per gallon” (headline courtesy of LA Times, not me), Los Angeles Times, November 14, 2014. For a more detailed discussion of the impact of cap-and-trade on California gasoline prices, see my blog post on the topic.
“An Economic Perspective on the EPA’s Clean Power Plan”, (with Meredith Fowlie, Lawrence Goulder, Matthew Kotchen,(lead authors) James Bushnell, Lucas Davis, Michael Greenstone, Charles Kolstad, Christopher Knittel, Robert Stavins, Michael Wara, Frank Wolak, and Catherine Wolfram), Science 14 November 2014: Vol. 346 no. 6211 pp. 815-816. Associated comments filed with Environmental Protection Agency
“Three Legacy Airlines and Southwest. Now What?”, Milken Institute Review (Trends section), Second Quarter, 2014.
"How Airline Markets Work...Or Do They? Regulatory Reform in the Airline Industry," (with Nancy Rose) in N. Rose ed., Economic Regulation and Its Reform: What Have We Learned?, University of Chicago Press, 2014.
“Seeking a fix for California’s gasoline market problems,” Los Angeles Times, December 2, 2012.
“Why the U.S. Airlines Need to Adapt to a Slow-Growth Future”, Bloomberg Business Class, June 4, 2012.
“The U.S. Can’t Control the World Oil Markets”, U.S. News & World Report, Debate Club, March 2, 2012.
“Making the Wrong Case for Renewable Energy”, Bloomberg Business Class, February 13, 2012.
"Markets for Anthropogenic Carbon Within the Larger Carbon Cycle", in The Design and Implementation of U.S. Carbon Policy, Don Fullerton and Catherine Wolfram eds., National Bureau of Economic Research and University of Chicago Press, 2012.
“California Solar Scorecard: Invest in Technologies, Not Subsidies” New York Times, Room for Debate, April 21, 2010.
"Gas Surcharge Could Help Deficit, Environment", Sacramento Bee, November 17, 2008. Also available a short policy paper explaining how a fuel price stabilization program could work.
Cost,
Conflict and Climate: Navigating the Global Oil Market, Milken Institute
Review, 4th Quarter 2008.
(a more detailed version of the paper is available at "Cost,
Conflict and Climate: U.S. Challenges in the World Oil Market", Center
for the Study of Energy Markets Working Paper #177, University of California
Energy Institute, Revised June 2008.)
"Will Solar PV Save You Money?", San Francisco Chronicle, April 21, 2008
Testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on mergers in the oil and gasoline industry, March 14, 2006
"Mere drops in the world's oil barrel", San Jose Mercury News, June 2, 2005
"Solar Initiative Has a Dark Side", San Jose Mercury News, August 20, 2004
"What's Wrong with Regulating Gasoline Prices?", Sacramento Bee, September 12, 2003
"Power
Politics Hurts Consumers," Financial Times, August 19, 2003.
"Time-Varying Retail Electricity Prices: Theory and Practice,'' in Griffin and Puller, eds., Electricity Deregulation: Choices and Challenges, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
"Government Aid to Airlines is Just Excess Baggage for Taxpayers ," Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2002.
"Electricity Pricing Should Clue Consumers to Judicious Use," Los Angeles Times, January 17, 2001.
"California consumers haven't seen benefits of deregulating the electrical industry yet -- What went wrong?," (with James Bushnell) San Jose Mercury News, August 27, 2000.
"Understanding Competitive Pricing and Market Power in Wholesale Electricity Markets," Electricity Journal, July 2000.
"Electricity Restructuring: Deregulation or Reregulation?," (with James Bushnell) Regulation, Vol. 23 No.2, 2000.
"California 'Lessons' derive from a Mischaracterization of our work" (with James Bushnell), letter in Electricity Journal, March 2000.
Comments on Kole and Lehn's "Workforce Integration and the Dissipation of Value in Mergers: The Case of USAir's Acquisition of Piedmont Aviation," in Steven Kaplan, ed., Mergers and Productivity, University of Chicago Press, 2000.
"A Cheaper Way to Clean Gasoline," (with Steven Stoft) San Francisco Chronicle, March 16, 1999.
"Rapid Communication and Price Fixing: The Airline Tariff Publishing Company Case," in John E. Kwoka and Lawrence J. White eds., The Antitrust Revolution: The Role of Economics, Oxford University Press, 3rd Edition, 1998.
"Airline Deregulation," (with Nancy Rose) entry in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Law and Economics, New York: Grove's Dictionaries, 1998.
"Repeat-Buyer Programs in Network Industries," in Werner Sichel ed., Networks, Infrastructure, and The New Task for Regulation, University of Michigan Press, 1996.
"A Guide to the Blue Book," (principal authors Carl Blumstein and James Bushnell), Electricity Journal, September 1994.
"Uncle Sam at the Gas Pump: Causes and Consequences of Regulating Gasoline Distribution," (with Richard Gilbert), Regulation, Spring 1993.
"The Economics of Customer Lock-In and Market Power in the Service Business," (with Jeffrey MacKie-Mason and Janet Netz) in Patrick T. Harker, ed. The Service Productivity and Quality Challenge, Kluwer Academic Press, 1994.
"USAir in 1986," (with Andrea Shepard), Stanford Graduate School of Business Strategic Management Case S-SM-4, January 1993.
"Prospects for Competitive European Air Travel," in W.J. Adams, ed. Singular Europe: Economy and Polity of the European Community After 1992, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992.
"Dissipating the Airline Deregulation Dividend: The Decline of Competition at Hub Airports," Regulation, Fall 1990 (and reply letter in Winter 1991 issue).
"Losses in Airline Demand and Value Following Accidents," (with Martin Zimmerman) in Moses and Savage, eds., Transportation Safety in an Age of Deregulation, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.
"USAir Merger Promises Higher Fares, Less Competition," Hartford Courant, January 12, 1988.
"High
Air Fares: Don't Blame Deregulation," Washington Post, August 25,
1987.
Energy Blog
Posts
December
2, 2024, Is
there a “Duty to Serve” Hyperscale Loads?, If we don’t rethink the paradigm for new large electricity customers,
they could end up burdening existing ratepayers.
September
23, 2024, Can
More Reserves Solve California’s Gasoline Price Problem? A proposal for minimum inventories could help,
a bit, if it takes implementation seriously.
August
19, 2024, Berkeley
Makes Another Run At Natural Gas, A
proposed tax on natural gas is cleverly designed, maybe too cleverly.
July
15, 2024, Oil
and Gasoline 101, Petroleum
production and prices matter, but not for the reasons many people think.
May
13, 2024, Reality
Checking California’s Income-Graduated Fixed Charge, After all of the heat of the debate, a bit of data analysis sheds some
light.
April
22, 2024, California’s
Exploding Rooftop Solar Cost Shift, In
2024, residential PV will shift nearly $4 billion onto others’ bills, more than
double the 2020 amount. (Data
Appendix)
April
8, 2024, What’s
Not Crushing California Rooftop Solar?, Bill
savings from residential PV are as large now as a few years ago, but the
industry is facing other big challenges. (Spreadsheet
of calculations reported)
January
29, 2024, Carbon
Neutrality on Sale, Finding the
cheapest cap and trade market to “offset emissions” is just political
arbitrage.
January
8, 2024, Our
2023 Carbon Footprint, A few
calculations lead to surprising conclusions about how to reduce our households
impact.
November
13, 2023, What’s
a Fair Electricity Bill?, Concerns
about an income-graduated fixed charge, legislators’ and my own.
September
25, 2023, Time
to Dump the Gas Stove, If not because
it destroys the climate and fowls of the air, then because cooking on it sucks.
August
28, 2023, Energy
Hogs Roam the Whole Economy, Some
want to punish household electricity consumption, but that’s a small slice of
our energy use.
August
21, 2023, (Mis)Judging
Energy Hogs, Household electricity
consumption is a poor indicator of responsible usage.
July
17, 2023, Making
Peak Electricity Pricing Make Sense, An
important change could make the most common dynamic pricing program much more
effective.
June
19, 2023, Electricity
Pricing and the Social Cost of Carbon, New
estimates of the SCC make it more important than ever that we lower the cost of
electrification.
May
1, 2023, Rebalancing
Rates for Electrification and Equity, Addressing
some misunderstandings about California’s rate redesign proposals.
March
6, 2023, Does
Anybody Really Care What Time It Is? Changing
the clock alters energy use and economic activity only if it changes behavior.
A new paper studies whether it does.
January
30, 2023, The
West Coast’s Bleak Energy Winter, What
do record natural gas prices tell us about cost risks of fossil and renewable
energy?
January
9, 2023, What’s
the Matter with California Gasoline Prices?, To develop effective solutions, policymakers must first understand the
problem.
December
15, 2022, Rationalizing
Compensation for Rooftop Generation, Proposed
CPUC decision remains cold-eyed about sweet deal solar households are getting.
November
7, 2022, A
Right to Keep Consuming? Historical
baseline allocations can increase acceptance of emergency policies, or lock in
unfair resource allocations.
October
3, 2022, What
Does Capital Really Cost a Utility? A
new study suggests excess compensation to shareholders is costing ratepayers
billions.
July
25, 2022,
Is Taxing Carbon Really the Best Way to Decarbonize the Grid? Our new research suggests clean electricity
standards or subsidies might be more beneficial.
June
21, 2022, A
Gasoline Tax Compromise for California, Eliminate
the tax now. Replace it with one that ratchets up when the price of oil falls.
June
6, 2022, Myths
that Solar Owners Tell Themselves, Reaching
into the e-mailbag to address some unhappy blog readers.
May
6, 2022, What’s
the Matter with Gasoline Prices?, Political
rhetoric from both sides is more distracting than enlightening.
March
21, 2022, Crypto
Mining for a More Stable Grid?, Is
cryptocurrency the magical Texas route to resource adequacy? Or just magical
thinking?
February
28, 2022, Cut
the Electricity Tax, Not the Gas Tax, A
more effective way to help struggling families, without undermining climate
goals.
January
10, 2022, California’s
Misguided Rooftop Solar Debate, The
goal should be equitably saving the planet, not growing one industry.
November
29, 2021, Is
Gasoline Becoming Unaffordable?, Not
if you can remember the world before COVID.
November
8, 2021, The
Little Utility that Could?, One very
small public utility in the Sierras tries to implement more cost-based rate
design.
October
4, 2021, The
CEPP is Not a Clean Energy Standard, And
the differences could undermine the program.
September
27, 2021, Soft
Costs Are Real Costs, Every energy
source has soft costs, some more than others. That doesn’t make them unfair.
August
16, 2021, Decarbonization
Will Require Pricing Reform, When it
comes to electrification, all energy prices matter.
July
12, 2021, Is
Rooftop Solar Just Like Energy Efficiency?, Sort of. More expensive, less well timed, grid-intensive energy
efficiency.
June
1, 2021, Rooftop
Solar Inequity, California’s
distributed solar policy hurts the poor. It really is that simple.
April
26, 2021, Finding
Homes for Wind and Solar, To site new
generation we must develop inclusive processes that don’t just reward the most
influential.
March
15, 2021, Texas,
Hedg’Em, The
Texas crisis need not be the death of dynamic pricing.
January
25, 2021, Can
Net Metering Reform Fix the Rooftop Solar Cost Shift?, If we don’t also get electricity rates right, closing one perverse
incentive may just increase another.
November
16, 2020, Reinventing
Fixed Charges, Income-based monthly
fees could address affordability while reducing distorted electricity rates.
September
28, 2020, What
Can Distributed Generation Do For the Grid?, A thought experiment suggests how much rooftop solar could reduce
transmission and distribution costs.
August
24, 2020, Why
Don’t We Do It With Demand?, Customers
can help avoid blackouts if they are given better information and prices. (Song
inspired by this blog)
July
6, 2020, Understanding
and Refining Emissions Markets, Tweaking
the market will help, but so will recognizing its limits.
May
18, 2020, Petro
Questions and (Some) Answers, These
are unusual times in oil and gasoline markets, but not really mysterious.
April
6, 2020, The
Policy and Politics of the COVID-19 Oil Market Crash, Two energy economists discuss supply, collusion, jobs, and the impact
on gasoline prices. (podcast with excerpts in blog)
March
16, 2020, Oil
Market Impacts of COVID-19, Economists
can’t predict the future, but economics can help improve policy today.
February
10, 2020, California’s
Mystery Gasoline Surcharge Strikes Back, 2019 was a record year for the Mystery Surcharge, which is bad news for
drivers and the state’s economy.
December
16, 2019, Preparing
for Next Year’s Power Shutoffs, The
best customer response depends on how much utilities can reduce their
frequency.
November
12, 2019, Would
Non-Profit Utilities Cure What Ails California Electricity? Converting an investor-owned utility to a
non-profit is no silver bullet.
October
8, 2019, Some
Suggestions for Getting Through a Power Shutoff, It will still be a headache, but doing a few simple things now can
help.
September
30, 2019, What
Can Carbon Pricing Do? It won’t
reduce energy use much, but it can fundamentally alter where that energy comes
from.
August
19, 2019, Pricing
for the Short Run, Many factors go into
electricity rate setting, but the economic guidance is short-run marginal cost.
July
8, 2019, Are
Demand Charges Fair?, Appeals to equity
don’t salvage the argument for demand charges.
May
20, 2019, The
Mystery Gasoline Surcharge Gets Some Respect, Californians have paid over $1800 per household. Now can we please find out why?
April
15, 2019, Pricing
Carbon Isn’t Enough, A GHG tax alone
doesn't solve the global need for low-cost alternative technologies.
March
11, 2019, Charging
with the Sun, You aren’t getting
“green electrons”, but charging at the right times still lowers GHG emissions.
January
21, 2019, Stabilizing
Utilities in an Unstable Climate, Wildfire
devastation mandates rethinking how electricity providers should be organized.
December
17, 2018 Lyft
Doesn’t Cause Congestion, All Vehicles Do, Restrictions targeted at the newest road users are unfair and
inefficient.
October
15, 2018 Trying
to Unpack California’s Mystery Gasoline Surcharge, This year, it will drain over $3 billion from the pockets of
Californians. We need to find out why.
September
17, 2018 The
Electricity Price Isn’t Right! Setting
prices too low is a climate problem, but so is setting prices too high.
August
6, 2018 Should
California Keep Its Oil in the Ground? The
direct costs would be large. The enrichment of world oil producers would be
even larger.
July
2, 2018 What
Does Daylight Saving Time Really Save? DST
can coordinate societal shifts to better use daylight…but at a cost
May
29, 2018 Try
Everything? Really? GHG policy
leadership and technology development matters, but such claims deserve scrutiny
April
2, 2018, Cap-and-Trade
and Innovation, Pricing carbon will
help drive R&D, but the market will still be bumpy
February
26, 2018, California’s
Mystery Gasoline Surcharge Continues, It’s
time for lawmakers to make the $3 billion per year puzzle a priority
January
2, 2018, California’s
Carbon Cap is Not in Jeopardy, Because It’s Not Really a Cap, Unused allowances are not an existential
threat to the state’s market for greenhouse gases
November
27, 2017, The
Cushion in Coal Markets that Will Make it Harder to Kill, Fat margins in rail shipping are likely to
partially absorb a price on carbon
October
30, 2017, California’s
Real Gasoline “Tax” Problem, A
mystery surcharge is costing Californians $3 billion per year
September
5, 2017, Peak
Electricity Pricing 2.0, It’s time to
make critical peak pricing more flexible
July
31, 2017, Making
Policy in an Uncertain World, Evidence-based
policy means adjusting our beliefs based on new information.
June
19, 2017, Creative
Pie Slicing to Address Climate Policy Opposition, Compensating the biggest losers can make the road to pricing GHGs less
bumpy
May
15, 2017, One
Stone, No Birds, Facility-level GHG
caps would undermine climate policies and hurt California’s economy
April
3, 2017, Missing
Money, Transitioning to renewable
generation is challenging electricity market designs
February
27, 2017, What
Do We Want From California Climate Policy?, We should focus on inventing, demonstrating and measuring global
solutions
Fight
Both Local and Global Pollutants, But Separately, January 17, 2017
Electricity
Rate Design for the Real World, November 14, 2016
Trash
Those Incandescent Bulbs Today!, October 3, 2016
Fixing
a Major Flaw in Cap and Trade, August 15, 2016
Who’s
Stranded Now?, July 18, 2016
Is
Electricity Pricing Different from “Real” Markets? Should It Be?, June 13, 2016
Is
Distributed Generation the Answer to Regulatory Dysfunction?, April 25,
2016
Driving
Taxes for the 21st Century, March 21, 2016
Is
“Community Choice” Electricity Supply a Solution or a Problem?, February 8,
2016
Double
Counting Virtue, January 11, 2016
Billing
Tweaks Don’t Make Net Metering Good Policy, January 4, 2016
If
You Like Your Time-Invariant Electricity Price, You Can Keep It, November
16, 2015
Why
Are California’s Gasoline Prices So High?, September 28, 2015
The
Decline of Sloppy Electricity Rate Making, August 24, 2015
Winners
and Losers from Flattening Tiered Electricity Prices, June 29, 2015
What
Put California at the Top of Residential Solar?, May 26, 2015
Is
the Future of Electricity Generation Really Distributed?, May 4, 2015
In
Praise of Cleaner-burning Gasoline, March 30, 2015
The
Job Creation Shuffle, February 17, 2015
Oil
price crash shows the challenge of breaking addiction January 20, 2015
What’s a University to do about Climate Change?, December 8, 2014
What’s
so Great about Fixed Charges?, November 3, 2014
Rationalizing
California’s Residential Electricity Rates, September 29, 2014
Californians
Can Handle the Truth About Gas Prices, August 11,
2014
What’s the Worst that Could Happen?, July 7, 2014
Money for Nothing? May 12, 2014
It's Time to Refocus California's Climate Strategy, April 7, 2014
In Defense of Picking Winners, March 3, 2014
What wood smoke has taught me about fighting climate change, February 3, 2014
Understanding energy usage starts at home, January 1, 2014
Is demonizing "big carbon" a strategy or a copout?, December 16, 2013
Rate design wars are the sound of utilities taking residential PV seriously, November 12, 2013
California’s Cap-and-Trade Market Still Needs a Price Ceiling, September 30, 2013
Learning and Forgetting the Wisdom of Coase, September 9, 2013
Bad Incentives For Green Choices, July 8, 2013
Pandora’s Promises – kept and unkept, June 19, 2013
The California Solar Initiative is ending. What has it left behind?, June 17, 2013
Will “Pandora’s Promise” convince us that nuclear is the answer?, June 13, 2013
Putting a Collar on Carbon Prices, May 28, 2013
Peak electricity pricing can save you money, April 29, 2013
“We’re for Import free trade, just not Export free trade”, April 14, 2013
What’s Keystone XL Got To Do With It?, February 4, 2013
California holds its first cap and trade auction, November 21, 2012
Are Fossil Fuel Subsidies Really the Problem for Renewables?, October 28, 2012
What (if anything) to do about California gasoline price spikes, October 7, 2012
In Praise of Energy Efficiency Rebound, September 30, 2012
Moving the Energy Debate Away From Nonsense, August 5, 2012
Many Reasons to Dislike Renewables Mandates, but Fraudulent Credits Isn’t a Good One, July 10, 2012
The Midwest Oil Glut Hasn’t Lowered Gas Prices; Ending the Glut Won’t Raise Them, May 14, 2012
Speculation is not the cause of high oil prices, May 6, 2012
Bad Energy Policy from Both Ends of the Political Spectrum, February 19, 2012
Educational
Software:
``The Competitive Strategy
Game,'' Version 3.50, January 2011. A computer simulation of competition
among firms for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in economics and
business. Version 3.50 is designed with an option to run the CSG through
the CSG Home Page. Since Version
1.0, released in January 1994, the CSG has been used in undergrad, MBA, or
Ph.D. level courses at more than 80 universities and colleges in 22
countries on 5 continents. Here is a list of those
institutions.
Recent Working
Papers:
Designing
Electricity Rates for An Equitable Energy Transition, Energy Institute at Haas
Working Paper #314, February 2021, (with Meredith Fowlie and James Sallee)
Paying
for Electricity in California: How Residential Rate Design Impacts Equity and
Electrification, Energy Institute at Haas Working Paper #330, September
2022, (with Meredith Fowlie and James Sallee)
Does Time Shift
Behavior? The Clock- vs. Solar-time Tradeoff, Energy Institute at Haas
Working Paper #335R, June 2024 , (with Patrick Baylis
and Ed Rubin)
Energy
Hogs and Energy Angels: What Does Residential Electricity Usage Really Tell Us
About Profligate Consumption?, Energy Institute at Haas Working Paper #341,
revised January 2024
------------------
Not-So-Recent
Working Papers:
California’s
Cap-and-Trade Market Through 2030: A Preliminary Supply/Demand Analysis, Energy
Institute at Haas Working Paper #281, July 2017 (with James Bushnell and Frank
A. Wolak)
"Report of the Market Simulation Group on Competitive Supply/Demand Balance in the California Allowance Market and the Potential for Market Manipulation", Energy Institute at Haas Working Paper #251, U.C. Berkeley, July 2014 (with James Bushnell, Frank A. Wolak, and Matthew Zaragoza-Watkins).
“Regional
and Income Distribution Effects of Alternative Retail Electricity Tariffs”,
Energy Institute at Haas Working Paper #225, U.C. Berkeley, October 2011.
"Would
Pricing Aviation GHGs Really Lower Efficiency or Profitability?: A Comment on
Winchester et al, 'The Impact of Climate Policy on U.S. Aviation’,"
Energy Institute at Haas Working Paper #216, U.C. Berkeley, June 2011.
"An Index of Inter-City Business Travel for Use in Domestic Airline Competition Analysis", U.C. Berkeley, June 2010.
“To What Electricity Price Do Consumers Respond? Residential Demand Elasticity Under Increasing-Block Pricing” , Center for the Study of Energy Markets Working Paper #195, University of California Energy Institute, September 2009.
"The Implications of a Gasoline Price Floor for the California Budget and Greenhouse Gas Emissions", Center for the Study of Energy Markets Working Paper #182, University of California Energy Institute, November 2008.
"The Market Value and Cost of Solar Photovoltaic Electricity Production", Center for the Study of Energy Markets Working Paper #176, University of California Energy Institute, January 2008. A number of criticisms of this paper have been circulated by solar PV advocates and I have written a response, click here for the lively exchange.
"Electricity Rate Structures and the Economics of Solar PV: Could Mandatory Time-of-Use Rates Undermine California’s Solar Photovoltaic Subsidies? Center for the Study of Energy Markets Working Paper #172, University of California Energy Institute, September 2007. (Also Available: A Solar PV Cost Calculator excel file. See the paper for description of its use.)
"Valuing the Time-Varying Electricity Production of Solar Photovoltaic Cells," Center for the Study of Energy Markets Working Paper #142, University of California Energy Institute, March 2005.
"Retail Policies and Competition in the Gasoline Industry," (with James Bushnell) Center for the Study of Energy Markets Working Paper #144, University of California Energy Institute, May 2005.
"Market Power in California's Gasoline Market," (with James Bushnell and Matthew Lewis) Center for the Study of Energy Markets Working Paper #132, University of California Energy Institute, May 2004.
"U.S. Domestic Airline Pricing, 1995-2004," Competition Policy Center Working Paper CPC05-48, University of California, Berkeley, January 2005.
"Investment Efficiency in Competitive Electricity Markets With and Without Time-Varying Retail Prices," (with Stephen Holland), Center for the Study of Energy Markets Working Paper #106, University of California Energy Institute, November 2002.
“Dynamic Pricing, Advanced Metering, and Demand Response in Electricity Markets,” (with Michael Jaske and Arthur Rosenfeld), Center for the Study of Energy Markets Working Paper #105, University of California Energy Institute, October 2002.
"Price Incentives for Fuel Switching: Did Price Differences Slow the Phase-Out of Leaded Gasoline?" POWER Working Paper #PWP-010, University of California Energy Institute, April 1993.
Education:
1979-1983 --- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D. Economics
1977-1978 --- University of California, Berkeley, A.B. Economics
1974-1976
--- Carleton College, Northfield, MN
1971-1974
--- Berkeley High School,
Berkeley, CA
Academic Positions
Held:
2021-present -- Professor of the Graduate School, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
2000-2021 -- E.T. Grether Professor of Business Administration and Public Policy, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
1996-2000 --- Professor of Business, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
1994-1996 --- Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of California, Davis
1994 --- Visiting Professor of Strategic Management (Winter), Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
1994 --- Visiting Associate Professor of Business Economics (March), Distance learning MBA for Cathay Pacific Airlines, School of Business Administration, University of Michigan
1992,1993 --- Visiting Associate Professor of Business Economics (Autumn), Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
1990-1994 --- Associate Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of California, Davis
1989-1990 --- Visiting Assistant Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of California, Davis
1983-1990
--- Assistant Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Department of Economics
and Institute of Public Policy Studies, University of Michigan
Other Professional
Positions:
2019-Present—Member, Board of
Governors, California
Independent System Operator
2018-Present – Faculty Director, Energy Institute at the Haas School of Business
2016-2018 – Member, Board of Directors, Association of Environmental and Resource Economics
2015-2020—Member, Advisory Council, Bay Area Air Quality Management District
2014-2017 – Member/Chair (after 9/2015), Petroleum Market Advisory Committee, California Energy Commissions
2014-2016 – Co-editor, Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists
2012-2013 -- Member, Emissions Market Assessment Committee, California Air Resources Board
2010-2012 -- Member, Supply and Infrastructure Task Group of the National Petroleum Council's Future of Transportation Fuels Study (commissioned by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu)
2010-2011 -- Member, U.S. Department of Transportation Future of Aviation Advisory Committee
2009-2014 -- Co-Director, Energy Institute at the Haas School of Business
2007-2013 -- Member, Board of Editors, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
2004-2009 --- Member, Board of Editors, Journal of Economic Literature
2000-2002 --- Co-Director of National Bureau of Economic Research E-Commerce Project
1999-2000 --- Member, California Attorney General's Gasoline Task Force
1997-2003 --- Member, Governing Board of California Power Exchange Corporation
1995-2000 --- Editor, Journal of Industrial Economics
1994-2014 --- Director, University of California Energy Institute
1993-1995 --- Associate Editor of Journal of Industrial Economics
1993-2000 --- Associate Editor of International Journal of Industrial Organization
1992-2012 --- Associate Editor of Review of Economics and Statistics
1992-Present --- Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research
1992-2009 --- Co-Director, Center for the Study of Energy Markets (formerly Program On Workable Energy Regulation), University of California
1978-1979
--- Staff Economist, Office of Economic Analysis, U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board
Honors,
Scholarships, Fellowships and Grants:
2022 --- Adelman-Frankel Award,
USAEE award for unique and innovative contributions to the field of energy
economics
2016 --- Google Research Gift, “Market versus Non-Market Mechanisms for Reducing GHG Emissions”
2016 --- Recipient, Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching, Haas Daytime MBA Program
2015 --- Outstanding Contributions to the Profession Award, International Association for Energy Economics.
2015 --- Distinguished Fellow Award, Industrial Organization Society
2014 --- Power Association of Northern California 2014 Achievement Award
2012-2013 --- California Air Resources Board (PI), “Emissions Market Assessment Committee”
2012-2014 --- California Air Resources Board (PI), “Market Simulation Group”
2010 -- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (PI), ``Smart Grid and Dynamic Pricing''
2010 -- Microsoft Research Gift, "The Impact of Dynamic Electricity Pricing on Low-Income Households''
2009, 2014 -- American Economic Review, Excellence in Refereeing Award
2009-2014 -- U.C. Office of the President Grant (PI), "U.C. Center for Energy and Environmental Economics''
2001-2013 -- California Energy Commission Research Grant to U.C. Energy Institute (PI), "Center for the Study of Electricity Markets''
2007-08 -- Research Grant from Coleman Fung Risk Management Research Center (PI), "Security of Supply Concerns and Forward Price Premia in Natural Gas Markets''
2006 --- Finalist, Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching, Haas Daytime MBA Program
2005 -- Distinguished Faculty
Mentoring Award (for graduate student mentoring), U.C. Berkeley
2005 -- Distinguished Service Award, Public Utility Research Center, University of Florida
2002 --- Hewlett Foundation/Energy Foundation Research Grant, ``Price Responsive Demand in Electricity Markets''
1998-2000 --- National Bureau of Economic Research/Sloan Foundation Research Grant (co-PI with Joseph Farrell), "Why Do Firms Cut Costs?"
1997 --- Finalist, Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching, Haas PhD Program
1997 --- Recipient, Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching, Haas Daytime MBA Program
1991-1993 --- Universitywide Energy Research Group Research Grant (co-PI with Colin Cameron), "Asymmetric Retail Gasoline Price Responses to Crude Oil Price Changes"
1988-1989 --- University of Michigan Rothschild Research Fellowship (PI)
Fall 1987 --- Michigan Economic Society Undergraduate Teaching Award
1987-1990 --- National Science Foundation Research Grant #SES-8711576 (PI), "Efficiency in the Allocation of Operating Licenses"
1986-1987 --- University of Michigan Teaching Development Award (PI)
1986 --- University of Michigan Rackham Research Fellowship (PI)
1982-1983 --- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship
1979-1981
--- M.I.T. Graduate Scholarship