Policy Paper/Report

Political Cross Currents in the Electricity Sector

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission faces increasing and conflicting pressures from both States and the Department of Energy to intervene in the federal wholesale electricity markets that FERC administers. In this primer, Guarini Center fellow Peter S. Ross provides a brief overview of those political forces and the legal framework in which they operate. The […]

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The Promise of Renewable Energy Microgrids for Rural Latin America

Since the adoption of the utility business model in the early 20th century, governments have relied on extending their national transmission grids to supply electricity to remote populations. Many countries in Latin America have followed this model. In the few cases where grids were not extended, electrification has been achieved by installing local diesel generation. Yet,

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Greening New York City’s Homes: The Case For Requiring Energy Efficiency Upgrades

If New York City hopes to achieve the ambitious goals it set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it will have to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of its building sector, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of the city’s total emissions. This policy brief argues that requiring owners of small residential buildings to perform simple energy

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Building Demand for Efficient Buildings: Insights from the EU’s Energy Disclosure Regime

In late 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed expanding the scope of New York City’s hallmark building energy disclosure law, Local Law 84, to cover midsized buildings. The proposed expansion could prove critical to the City’s pollution-reduction goals. Yet, without also addressing the means by which energy information is communicated, Mayor de Blasio’s proposal is

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The Rise of DG: Options for Addressing the Environmental Consequences of Increased Distributed Generation

States across the country are witnessing a surge in distributed electricity generation. DG has the potential to provide significant economic and reliability benefits. DG powered by zero- or low-emissions resources may also confer significant environmental benefits. But not all DG comes from these relatively clean sources. Increased reliance on “dirty DG,” especially DG that runs on diesel fuel, has

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Deploying Solar Powered Microgrids on Small Island Developing States

Today, the majority of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) rely on imported diesel fuel to generate electricity on the islands. This reliance on diesel exposes SIDS to multiple challenges. First, the fuel must typically be transported great distances at great expense and the resulting electricity tariffs can be staggeringly high. In 2010, for instance, when global

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Electricity Regulation at the Supreme Court: What Might the Grant of PPL Mean for EPSA?

Last week, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Hughes v. PPL EnergyPlus, LLC (“PPL”), its second case of the term involving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) regulation of wholesale electricity markets. Two days earlier, the Court heard oral argument in the first case, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission v. Electric Power Supply Association (“EPSA”). Following argument in EPSA, the prevailing wisdom was

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Building New York’s Future Electricity Markets: Identifying Policy Prerequisites & Market Relationships

New York State’s “Reforming the Energy Vision” (REV) proceeding aims to improve the efficiency of the State’s electricity system by animating markets for distributed energy resources (DERs). Thus far, the New York State Public Service Commission (Commission) has laid out several aspirational features of its DER market vision. The Commission has determined that distribution utilities will serve

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