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System Average Rates and Management Efficiency: A Statistical Benchmark Study of U.S. Investor-Owned Electric Utilities

Ernst R. Berndt, Roy Epstein and Michael J. Doane

Year: 1996
Volume: Volume17
Number: Number 3
DOI: 10.5547/ISSN0195-6574-EJ-Vol17-No3-1
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Abstract:
Proposals to restructure electric utilities have heightened interest in understanding what factors contribute to the variation in system average rates (SARs) across utilities. Direct comparisons of utilities' average rates have been used to assess management performance and the possibility of using mandatory restructuring to reduce rates. However, direct rate comparisons can lead to highly unreliable conclusions because they ignore the wide variety of regional, economic, and regulatory factors that affect rates across utilities. This paper presents a statistical benchmark study of SARs using 1984-93 data on 99 U.S. investor-owned utilities. The model is applied to evaluate the electric rates of three California investor-owned utilities. We find electric rates are affected to a large extent by factors outside the direct and immediate control of management. Controlling for these effects, there is no evidence that these California utilities, which have relatively high system average rates, suffer from poor management performance.



Fuel Economy Rebound Effect for U.S. Household Vehicles

David L. Greene, James R. Kahn and Robert C. Gibson

Year: 1999
Volume: Volume20
Number: Number 3
DOI: 10.5547/ISSN0195-6574-EJ-Vol20-No3-1
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Abstract:
This paper presents an econometric estimation of the "rebound effect" for household vehicle travel in the United States based on analysis of survey data collected by the Energy Information Administration (ELA) at approximately threeyear intervals over a 15-year period. The rebound effect measures the tendency to "take back" potential energy savings from fuel economy improvements as increased travel. Vehicle use models were estimated for one-, two-, three-, four-, and five-vehicle households. The results confirm recent estimates based on national or state-level data: a long-run "take back" of about 20 percent of potential energy savings. Consumer responses to changes in fuel economy or fuel price per gallon appear to be equal and opposite in sign. Recognizing the interdependencies among miles of travel, fuel economy and price is key to obtaining meaningful results.



The Impact of Dynamic Pricing on Residential and Small Commercial and Industrial Usage: New Experimental Evidence from Connecticut

Ahmad Faruqui, Sanem Sergici, and Lamine Akaba

Year: 2014
Volume: Volume 35
Number: Number 1
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.35.1.8
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Abstract:
Among U.S. households, a quarter have smart meters but only one percent are on any form of dynamic pricing. Commissions and utilities continue to study the potential benefits of dynamic pricing through experimentation but most of it involves the residential sector. We add to that body of knowledge by presenting the results of a pilot in Connecticut which included small commercial and industrial (C&I) customers in addition to residential customers. The pilot featured a time-of-use rate, two dynamic pricing rates and four enabling technologies. Customers were randomly selected and allocated to these rates, to ensure representativeness of the final results. The experiment included a total of around 2,200 customers and ran during the summer of 2009. Using a constant elasticity of substitution model, we find that customers do respond to dynamic pricing, a finding that matches that from most other experiments. We also find that response to critical-peak pricing rates is higher than response to peak-time rebates, unlike some other experiments where similar results were found. Like many other pilots, we find that there is virtually no response to TOU rates with an eight hour peak period. And like the few pilots that have compared small C&I customer response to residential response, we find that small C&I customers are less price responsive than residential customers. We also find that some enabling technologies boost price responsiveness but that the Energy Orb does not.



Did the EU ETS Make a Difference? An Empirical Assessment Using Lithuanian Firm-Level Data

Jurate Jaraite-Kažukauske and Corrado Di Maria

Year: 2016
Volume: Volume 37
Number: Number 1
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.37.2.jjar
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Abstract:
We use a panel dataset of about 5,000 Lithuanian firms between 2003 and 2010, to assess the impact of the EU ETS on the environmental and economic performance of participating firms. Using a matching methodology, we are able to estimate the causal impact of EU ETS participation on CO2 emissions, CO2 intensity, investment behaviour and profitability of participating firms. Our results show that ETS participation did not lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions, while we identify a slight improvement in CO2 intensity. ETS participants are shown to have retired part of their less efficient capital stock, and to have made modest additional investments from 2010. We also show that the EU ETS did not represent a drag on the profitability of participating firms.



Taxation and Investment Decisions in Petroleum

Graham A. Davis and Diderik Lund

Year: 2018
Volume: Volume 39
Number: Number 6
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.39.6.gdav
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Abstract:
When governments apply high tax rates targeted at natural resource rent, there must be generous deductions in order to avoid investment disincentives. How generous is disputed. Based on standard finance theory and recommendations from the OECD and the IMF, the value that firms attach to future deductions depends on the risks of these, and the companies' after-tax weighted-average cost of capital cannot be applied directly. As an example, a simple model quantifies the difference between pre-tax and post-tax systematic risk when tax deductions are less risky than pre-tax cash flows. Osmundsen et al. (2015) suggest that the difference must be ignored by oil companies, since they cannot find the separate market values of tax deductions. But companies operating in different jurisdictions cannot then appreciate differences in tax systems, not even approximately, which will lead to suboptimal decisions. Tax designers may instead assume that companies have gradually adopted more sophisticated methods of investment decision making.



The Impact of Competition Policy Enforcement on the Functioning of EU Energy Markets

Tomaso Duso, Jo Seldeslachts, and Florian Szucs

Year: 2019
Volume: Volume 40
Number: Number 5
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.40.5.tdus
View Abstract

Abstract:
We investigate the impact of competition policy enforcement on the functioning of European energy markets while accounting for sectoral regulation. For this purpose, we compile a novel dataset on the European Commission's (EC) and EU member states' competition policy decisions in energy markets and combine it with firm- and sector-level data. We find that EC merger policy has a positive and robust impact on (i) the level of competition, (ii) investment and (iii) productivity. This impact, however, only shows up in low-regulated sectors. Other competition policy tools - EC state aid control and anti-trust, as well as all member state policy variables - do not have a uniform effect on energy markets. Our findings are consistent with the idea that the EC's merger policy actions have been used to overcome obstacles to a well-functioning EU energy sector and may have contributed to the overall development of gas and electricity markets in Europe.



A Retrospective Evaluation of the GDF/Suez Merger: Effects on the Belgian Gas Hub

Elena Argentesi, Albert Banal-Estañol, and Jo Seldeslachts

Year: 2021
Volume: Volume 42
Number: Number 6
DOI: 10.5547/01956574.42.6.earg
View Abstract

Abstract:
We present an ex-post analysis of the effects of GDF's acquisition of Suez in 2006, which created one of the world's largest energy companies. We perform a series of econometric analyses on the market for trading at the Zeebrugge gas hub in Belgium. Removing barriers to entry and facilitating access to the hub through ownership unbundling were an important part of the objectives of the remedies imposed by the European Commission. Our analyses show a robust price decline after the merger. Additional evidence on traded volumes and number of hub participants is in line with an increased liquidity at the hub after the merger. This suggests the remedies were effective in limiting the potential anti-competitive effects of the merger. Moreover, it suggests that ownership unbundling has generated improved access to the hub. Therefore, remedies may have done more than simply mitigate the potential anti-competitive effects of the merger; they may have effectively created competition.





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