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Electric Utility Demand Side Management in Canada

Nic Rivers and Mark Jaccard

Year: 2011
Volume: Volume 32
Number: Number 4
DOI: 10.5547/ISSN0195-6574-EJ-Vol32-No4-6
View Abstract

Abstract:
Government, utility, and private subsidies for energy efficiency play a prominent role in current efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, yet the effectiveness of this policy approach is in dispute. One opportunity for empirical analysis is provided by the past energy efficiency subsidies, called demand-side management programs, offered by electric utilities in North America over several decades. Between 1990 and 2005, most electric utilities in Canada administered such programs, with total spending of $2.9 billion (CDN$2005). This paper uses the significant inter-annual variation in demand side management spending during this period to econometrically estimate the effectiveness of these subsidies. The resulting estimates indicate that these programs have not had a substantial impact on overall electricity consumption in Canada.



Stability versus Sustainability: Energy Policy in the Gulf Monarchies

Jim Krane

Year: 2015
Volume: Volume 36
Number: Number 4
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.36.4.jkra
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Abstract:
Over the past half-century, production from vast reserves of hydrocarbons has transformed the once destitute Persian Gulf monarchies into developed states with comfortable lifestyles. However, longstanding policies that stimulate energy demand in these states are diverting an ever-larger share of resource production into domestic markets, threatening the region's chief export and biggest contributor to GDP. Five of these six sheikhdoms must soon choose between maintaining energy subsidies and sustaining exports. Rising domestic demand for natural gas, once considered nearly free, has already forced some states to shift to higher-cost resources, including imports. For now, governments have absorbed these costs and insulated consumers from higher prices. This practice only intensifies the pressure on exportable resources. As hydrocarbon production reaches a plateau, domestic consumption will gradually displace exports. Politically difficult reforms that moderate consumption can therefore extend the longevity of exports, and perhaps, the regimes themselves.



Now or Later? Trading Wind Power Closer to Real Time And How Poorly Designed Subsidies Lead to Higher Balancing Costs

Johannes Mauritzen

Year: 2015
Volume: Volume 36
Number: Number 4
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.36.4.jmau
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Abstract:
Simulation studies have pointed to the advantages of trading closer to real-time with large amounts of wind power. Using Danish data, I show that, as expected, shortfalls increase the probability of trade on the short-term market, Elbas. But in the period studied between 2010 and 2012 surpluses are shown to decrease the probability of trade. This unexpected result is likely explained by wind power policies that discourage trading on Elbas and lead to unnecessarily high balancing costs. I use a rolling-windows regression to support this claim.



Comparing Renewable Energy Policies in EU-15, U.S. and China: A Bayesian DSGE Model

Amedeo Argentiero, Tarek Atalla, Simona Bigerna, Silvia Micheli, and Paolo Polinori

Year: 2017
Volume: Volume 38
Number: KAPSARC Special Issue
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.38.SI1.aarg
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Abstract:
The promotion of renewable energy sources (RES) by governments is one way of helping countries to meet their energy needs while lowering greenhouse gas emissions. In this paper, we examine the role of energy policy in RES promotion, based on a carbon tax and RES price subsidy, at a time of technological and demand shocks in the European Union (E.U.) 15 countries, the United States (U.S.) and China, focusing on the macroeconomic implications. Using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model for RES and fossil fuels, our results suggest that, in the presence of a total factor productivity shock in the fossil fuel sector, such an energy policy can also be a driving force for smoothing the reduction of RES in the energy market (and vice versa). Additionally, we show that the E.U.15 grouping has a comparative advantage in terms of reaching grid parity compared with the other countries we considered which are more fossil fuel dependent.



Oil Subsidies and Renewable Energy in Saudi Arabia: A General Equilibrium Approach

Jorge Blazquez, Lester C Hunt, and Baltasar Manzano

Year: 2017
Volume: Volume 38
Number: KAPSARC Special Issue
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.38.SI1.jbla
View Abstract

Abstract:
In 2016, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) announced its Vision 2030 strategic plan incorporating major changes to the economic structure of the country, including an intention to deploy 9.5 GW of renewable energy in an effort to reduce the penetration of oil in the electricity generation system. This paper assesses the macroeconomic impact of such changes in the KSA, coupled with reductions in implicit energy subsidies. Based on a dynamic general equilibrium model, our analysis suggests that if the KSA government were to deploy a relatively small quantity of renewable technology, consistent with the country's Vision 2030 plans, there would be a positive impact on the KSA's long run GDP and on households' welfare. However, we demonstrate that if the integration costs of renewable technology were high, then households' welfare would be maximized at around 30-40% renewables penetration. In addition, we show that a policy favoring renewable energy would increase the dependence of the KSA on oil, given that a larger share of GDP would be linked to oil exports and so, potentially, to oil price shocks. Finally, it is shown that exporting significantly more oil onto the international market could have a negative impact on the international oil price and thus could offset the potential gains from the renewable energy policy.



Inventory and Distribution of Energy Subsidies of China

Zhan-Ming Chen

Year: 2017
Volume: Volume 38
Number: KAPSARC Special Issue
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.38.SI1.zche
View Abstract

Abstract:
To provide support for the energy subsidy reform as a critical step of China's recent energy reform agenda, a comprehensive energy subsidy inventory of China is compiled and the associated distributional effect is investigated in this study. According to the results, the lower boundary estimation of annual energy subsidies of China was 90-202 billion CNY, equivalent to 0.22%-0.37% of GDP or 0.95%-1.21% of government expenditure, during 2010-2014. Thanks to the specific subsidies provided to rural grid construction and transportation, 72% of the energy subsidies were distributed to residents in 2012, while fixed capital and export carried another 13% and 10%. Poorer urban household received higher energy subsidy ratio through dwelling and food expenditures, but lower ratio through transportation and communication expenditures. The overall energy subsidies are slightly regressive, thus adequate reform can narrow wealth gap on the one hand and reduce budgetary pressure on the other.



Promoting CCS in Europe: A Case for Green Strategic Trade Policy?

Finn Roar Aune, Simen Gaure, Rolf Golombek, Mads Greaker, Sverre A.C. Kittelsen, and Lin Ma

Year: 2022
Volume: Volume 43
Number: Number 6
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.43.6.faun
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Abstract:
According to IEA (2018), there is a huge gap between the first-best social optimal utilization of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technologies to lower global CO2 emissions and the current, negligible diffusion of this technology. This calls for a financial support mechanism for CCS. We study to what extent promotion of CCS in Europe should be through subsidizing development and production of CCS technologies—an upstream subsidy—or by subsidising the purchasers of CCS technologies—a downstream subsidy. This question is examined theoretically in a stylized model and numerically by using a new approach that integrates strategic trade policy with an economic model of the European energy markets. The theory model suggests that upstream subsidies should clearly be preferred, and this is confirmed by the numerical simulations. For the European power market, the numerical simulations suggest that subsidies to CCS coal power should exceed subsidies to CCS gas power.



How Cost-effective are Electric Vehicle Subsidies in Reducing Tailpipe-CO2 Emissions? An Analysis of Major Electric Vehicle Markets

Tamara L. Sheldon, Rubal Dua, and Omar Abdullah Alharbi

Year: 2023
Volume: Volume 44
Number: Number 3
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.44.2.tshe
View Abstract

Abstract:
We estimate the cost-effectiveness of plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) subsidies in reducing tailpipe-CO2 emissions in China, the U.S., and nine European countries. We find that the per-tonne cost of tailpipe-CO2 avoided increases linearly with the government-subsidized percentage of the PEV price. Costs are relatively higher in the Netherlands and Denmark, which subsidized high-priced PEVs including plug-in hybrids, and lower in the U.S., where PEVs replaced higher-emissions cars. Chinese PEV subsidies have a short-run static cost of up to $1,600 per tonne, far exceeding the social cost of carbon, suggesting that subsidies are more a part of China's industrial policy than its carbon policy. When subsidy-induced PEV sales and power generation emissions are considered, the ordering of countries based on the cost-effectiveness of subsidies changes. The long-run dynamic subsidy cost is expected to be lower, as current subsidies may drive future innovation and sales, and due to grid decarbonization.



Fossil Fuel Subsidy Inventories vs. Net Carbon Prices

Jens Böhm and Sonja Peterson

Year: 2024
Volume: Volume 45
Number: Number 4
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.45.4.jboh
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Abstract:
Price incentives for reducing fossil fuel related carbon emissions are an important component of effective and efficient climate policy. Current incentives stem from a mixture of energy taxes and carbon pricing (incentivizing less emissions) and diverse support measures for fossil fuels (incentivizing more emissions). We develop a net carbon price indicator that complements existing subsidy and carbon pricing indicators. It can be calculated on different aggregation levels and compared across countries. We calculate the different components and our aggregate indicator for the year 2018 and for eight countries including the worlds' six largest emitters. Our analysis reveals large differences in net carbon prices across countries and across sectors within countries. We argue that the sectoral differences can inform about adequate national policy reforms while the aggregate national indicator can be useful for international negotiations about comparable national efforts.





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