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Woo, C. K., Ho, T., Zarnikau, J., Olson, A., Jones, R., Chait, M., Horowitz, I., and Wang, J.
Energy Policy. Oct2014, Vol. 73, p234-244. 11p.
Subjects
Market prices, Nuclear power plants, Electricity, Fukushima Nuclear Accident, Fukushima, Japan, 2011, and Natural gas
Abstract
Japan?s Fukushima nuclear disaster, triggered by the March 11, 2011 earthquake, has led to calls for shutting down existing nuclear plants. To maintain resource adequacy for a grid?s reliable operation, one option is to expand conventional generation, whose marginal unit is typically fueled by natural-gas. Two timely and relevant questions thus arise for a deregulated wholesale electricity market: (1) what is the likely price increase due to a nuclear plant shutdown? and (2) what can be done to mitigate the price increase? To answer these questions, we perform a regression analysis of a large sample of hourly real-time electricity-market price data from the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) for the 33-month sample period of April 2010-December 2012. Our analysis indicates that the 2013 shutdown of the state?s San Onofre plant raised the CAISO real-time hourly market prices by $6/MWH to $9/MWH, and that the price increases could have been offset by a combination of demand reduction, increasing solar generation, and increasing wind generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Prices, Direct costing, Option value, Electricity, and Electric generators
Abstract
Generators supplying electricity markets are subject to volatile input and output prices and uncertain fuel availability. We show that a price-taking generator will generate only when the output price exceeds its operational marginal cost by the value of the option to delay the use of stored fuel. This option value, which is an increasing function of spot price volatility and the uncertainty about fuel availability, must be considered when evaluating whether market power is present in electricity markets. We calibrate our model to the California electricity market and show the implications of Hurricane Katrina for generators' offers. The standard approach for simulating electricity supply curves for use in market power evaluations just uses operational marginal cost. Our work demonstrates that operational marginal cost is a lower bound for total short-run marginal cost and may considerably underestimate actual short-run marginal cost even in the complete absence of market power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Time-of-use pricing for electric utilities, Prices, and Electricity
Abstract
Examines the factors that explain the increase in wholesale electricity prices in California during summer 2000. Determination of whether and how much of the difference between benchmark and actual prices can be explained by the prices of tradeable permits for nitrogen oxide emissions; Behavior of suppliers during high-price hours; Method for estimating competitive benchmark prices with public data.
Energy consumption, Electric utilities, Supply & demand, Power resources, Microeconomics, Prices, Government policy, Electric power, Energy demand management, Electricity, and Electric power consumption
Abstract
In the mid-1990s, California was the first U.S. state to fundamentally change the way in which its electricity supply was regulated. In order to achieve competition on the electricity market, production and transportation were separated and electricity exchanges were set up. Following the introduction of the reforms, electricity prices initially fell somewhat for most consumers. This was considered a success of deregulation. In the summer of 2000 and again in the following winter, however, wholesale prices on the electricity exchange rose drastically. In mid-January 2001, electricity demand out-stripped available capacities, so that the power supply of many consumers had to be cut. In addition to the conceptional problems of deregulaion, a series of other factors also contributed to this development, such as under-estimating economic growth, the increase in electricity consumption in the second half of the 1990s, the elaborate and time-consuming approval procedures for power stations and insufficient incentives to save electricity. In Europe, the starting position is more advantageous than it was in California, but here, too, deregulation of the electricity supply could contribute to reducing capacity reserves and thereby to endangering the security of the power supply.
Demand (Economic theory), Econometrics, Elasticity (Economics), Time series analysis, Prices, Electric power consumption, Electricity, and Households
Abstract
Measurement of residential demand for electricity has taken on increased importance with the rapid increase in real energy prices and the identification of the electricity sector as a central focus of energy policymaking. Reliable analysis of proposals to revise electricity rate structures and projections of future supply needs must be based on quantitative judgments about price and income elasticities as well as the effects of other major variables. To date, virtually all econometric studies of household demand have used aggregate time-series or cross-section data and some measure of the average residential price per kilowatt -hour of electricity. Because the marginal price per unit of electricity is not constant under the declining-block rates used by utilities, such studies may contain biases that can be especially serious when analyzing the effect of any change in rate structure. The empirical research reported in the article is based on micro-level data for 3825 geographic areas throughout the county of Los Angeles, California. By adopting this disaggregated approach to estimating demand equations, authors are able to measure the marginal price faced by households, control for eight major appliances, and include the important influence of weather.
Multinational Monitor. Jun2001, Vol. 22 Issue 6, p9. 12p. 1 Black and White Photograph.
Subjects
Electric power failures, Electric utilities, Deregulation, Prices, and Electricity
Abstract
Contends that the electric power failures in California were not due to an energy shortage but have been staged for massive electricity price increases by the state's electric power utilities and oil and gas companies. Deregulation of the electric utilities in the state; How the United States Federal Electrical Regulatory Commission colluded with Southern California Edison to stop a clean power generation initiative; Views of consumer and environmental groups on the energy shortage.
U.S. News & World Report. 06/18/2001, Vol. 130 Issue 24, p28. 3p. 1 Color Photograph.
Subjects
Energy industries, Corporate corruption, Prices, and Electricity
Abstract
Focuses on Enron Corp. The complexity of the company's global business, including its involvement with the energy industries in the United States; Investigation of the company for allegedly manipulating markets and price gouging; Efforts of California to limit the electricity prices which Enron can charge customers; History of the company. INSET: Enron's biggest assets are on paper, by Anne Kates Smith.
Vucetic, Slobodan, Tomsovic, Kevin, and Obradovic, Zoran
IEEE Transactions on Power Systems. May2001, Vol. 16 Issue 2, p280. 7p. 5 Charts, 4 Graphs.
Subjects
Electric industries, Prices, and Electricity
Abstract
Presents information on a study which characterized the price behavior in the electricity industry in California. Background on the hourly-unconstrained market clearing prices; Methodology of the study; Results and discussion.
Energy User News. Jul2001, Vol. 26 Issue 7, p22. 4p. 1 Diagram, 1 Map.
Subjects
Prices, Electricity, and Energy facilities
Abstract
Focuses on the functions of the electricity market in California. Role of the independent system operator (ISO) in the electricity market; Creation of the scheduling coordinators to develop an efficient plan than the ISO; Differences between nodal and zonal pricing of electricity.
Prices, Electric power consumption, and Electricity
Abstract
Reports developments on the electricity market in California. Plan to let market forces set electricity prices; Creation of a competitive wholesale market; Provisions of the Federal Power Act.
Economics, Prices, Supply & demand, and Electricity
Abstract
The paper examines the economic and regulatory factors that led to an explosion in wholesale power prices, supply shortages, and utility insolvencies in California's electricity sector from May 2000 to June 2001. The structure of California's restructured electricity sector and its early performance are discussed. The effects on wholesale market prices of rising natural gas prices, increasing demand, reduced power imports, rising pollution credit prices, and market power, beginning in the summer of 2000, are analysed, The regulatory responses leading to utility credit problems and supply shortages are identified. The effects of falling natural gas prices, reduced demand, state power‐procurement initiatives, and price‐mitigation programmes on prices beginning in June 2001 are discussed. A set of lessons learned from the California experience concludes the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
Reports on the impact of gas price hike and electricity crisis on the businesses of entrepreneurs in California. Number of states that have passed legislation or regulatory orders to allow for retail competition; Views of florist shop owner Harold M. Hoogasian and other entrepreneurs on the effect of electricity crisis on their businesses. INSET: IT TAKES ELECTRICITY TO START A BUSINESS?!.
Markets, Power resources, Prices, Electric power failures, and Electricity
Abstract
The importance of the role of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is illustrated by the situation in California. Wholesale electricity prices in California rose sharply in May 2000 and have remained high. California also saw disruptions in service this winter and spring. GAO reviewed FERC's outage study and two other studies that examined possible exercise of market power in California's electricity industry. GAO found that FERC's study was not thorough enough to support its conclusion that audited generators were not physically withholding electricity to influence prices. FERC's study largely focused on determining whether or not the outages were caused by actual physical problems, such as leaks in cooling tubes that required maintenance or repairs. Two other studies GAO examined found evidence that electricity generators exercised market power to boost electricity prices in California. These studies sought broader evidence of the exercise of market power in the entire market by comparing wholesale electricity prices to the estimated costs of producing electricity. In doing so, they found that prices were higher than would be expected if the generators were acting competitively. None of the studies was thorough enough to determine the precise extent to which market power versus other factors has caused high electricity prices in California since May 2000. A thorough study of market power would combine the market-wide approach of the other two studies with a quantification of the extent to which outages, or other supply disruptions, were caused by factors other than generators' attempts to drive up prices. Such factors may include the operating and maintenance history of existing power plants, constraints on the number of hours certain plants can be run, and financial problems of utilities, which led to suspension of payments to some generators. This testimony summarized a June report (GAO-01-857). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Prices, Power resources, Supply & demand, Electric power failures, and Electricity
Abstract
Wholesale electricity prices in California rose sharply in May 2000 and have remained high. In addition, there were disruptions in service--blackouts--this winter and spring. The California Independent System Operator, the state agency in charge of balancing electricity supply with demand, expects high prices and service disruptions to continue and perhaps worsen this summer. In response to concerns about high prices and generator outages in California, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) undertook a study, released in February 2001, to determine whether outages were being used to withhold power and drive up prices of electricity in California. Other studies of the electricity market in California have been conducted by economists and industry experts. One study, conducted by three economists from Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of California Energy Institute examined whether market prices of electricity in California in 1998 and 1999 were higher than competitive levels. A second, similar study by two economists--one from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and one from a private consulting firm--examined the California market during 2000. This report reviews the FERC study, as well as the two studies on the California electricity market to determine (1) how the methodologies and results of the three studies compare and (2) if FERC's study was thorough enough to support its conclusions that audited companies did not physically withhold electricity supplies to influence prices. GAO found that FERC's study used a very different methodological approach from the approach used by the other two studies and reached different conclusions. FERC's study performed an audit of specific generating plants and companies that experienced outages to determine if audited companies were incurring outages in an effort to drive up prices, while the other two studies compared market prices with estimates of the costs of producing electricity. GAO further found that FERC's study was not thorough enough to support its conclusion that audited companies were not withholding electricity supply to influence prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Power resources, Prices, Electricity, and Electric power conservation
Abstract
Since May 2000, California's restructured electricity market has experienced rapidly rising prices and uncertain reliability. In response to disruptions in service, or blackouts, the state has taken steps to increase electricity supplies and to reduce demand through conservation. The California Independent System Operator, the agency in charge of balancing electricity supply with demand, expects high prices and disruptions to persist, and perhaps even worsen, in the summer of 2001. This report reviews (1) the condition of California's electricity market, including changes in demand, supply, and prices; (2) the extent to which the Department of Defense (DOD) can help enhance western electricity supplies during the summer of 2001; and (3) available private backup generation resources and any benefits and problems associated with their deployment. GAO found that electricity demand has risen sharply in recent years while supply has not kept up with the demand, causing higher prices. DOD could help augment western electricity supplies by generating an estimated 90 megawatts of electricity and implementing conservation initiatives. The use of private generation is limited because of business and environmental risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Energy User News. Mar2001, Vol. 26 Issue 3, p18. 3p.
Subjects
Wholesale trade, Prices, and Electricity
Abstract
Focuses on the impact of electricity prices on wholesale markets in California. Ability of the market forces to provide lower cost electric energy; Methods on wholesale trading; Conduction of trading using a telephone or an electronic mail by brokers.
Fierce Smart Grid. 8/11/2015, p1-1. 1p. 2 Color Photographs.
Subjects
Energy consumption, Energy industries, Power resources, Prices, Government policy, and Electricity
Abstract
The article discusses the need of regulatory frameworks to develop and advance electricity system of California. Topics discussed include need to evaluating the merits and demerits of different models for operations, role and functions of the electric grid, and policies to support advancement and deployment of new technologies. It informs that the plan will reduce energy costs and increase energy efficiency.
U.S. News & World Report. 08/21/2000, Vol. 129 Issue 7, p50. 1/2p. 1 Color Photograph.
Subjects
Electric industries, Deregulation, Internet industry, Prices, Economics, and Electricity
Abstract
Reports on the controversy surrounding electricity in California. Increase in costs of electricity; Deregulation of electricity in California; Reasons for the price increase; Demands of the Internet industry on electricity; Refusal of residents, school districts and local government to pay electricity bills; Efforts of the Utility Consumers' Action Network to reduce the cost of electricity.
Power Economics. Jul/Aug2001, Vol. 5 Issue 7, p12-12. 1/3p.
Subjects
Price regulation, Prices, and Electricity
Abstract
Reports the electricity pricing problems in California. Move of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend price control system scheme imposed in California to other western states; Impact of the scheme on the power prices across the region; Relation of the scheme on the increase blackouts and power restrictions.
Electric power failures, Prices, Electricity, and Electric power
Abstract
Focuses on the tactics of Enron Corp. which drove electricity prices up in California during 2000 and 2001. Costs to consumers, power blackouts and shortages which resulted from the power crisis; Evidence that Enron may have used Canadian companies while manipulating the California electrical grid; Removal of price caps on electricity in the state.
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