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This paper attempts to shed light on the relative merits of centralized electricity markets with multipart bids and dispatch using an MIP-based unit commitment optimization approach vs. self-committed markets with linear energy supply curves. We conduct an empirical study of data from the Colombian market, which in 2009 transitioned from a self-commitment paradigm to a centralized unit commitment approach where generators offer a linear supply function for energy along with start-up costs while the commitment and dispatch are determined by the system operator using MIP-based optimization. The results indicate that the transition to centralized dispatch has resulted in productive efficiency gains through a decrease in production costs. However, these gains have not translated into wholesale price decreases; in fact, wholesale prices increased after the change in the dispatch approach. These results suggest that productive efficiency gains have been captured by suppliers through the exercise of market power. Keywords: Centralized Unit Commitment, Productive Efficiency, Market Power, 1. INTRODUCTION System operators (SO) in electricity markets have the responsibility of balancing supply and demand of electricity at each moment in time, taking into account all of the constraints [...]

We examine whether the unbundling of generation from transmission and distribution services at state-owned power plants in India improved operating efficiency at these power plants. Between 1995 and 2009, 85 percent of coal-based generation capacity owned by state governments was unbundled from vertically integrated State Electricity Boards into state generating companies. We find that generating units in states that unbundled before the Electricity Act of 2003 experienced reductions in forced outages of about 25% and improvements in availability of about 10%, with the largest results occurring 3-5 years after unbundling. We find no evidence of improvements in thermal efficiency at state-owned power plants due to unbundling. Keywords: Indian electricity sector, Electricity sector restructuring, 1. INTRODUCTION This paper examines the impact of electricity sector restructuring on the operating efficiency of thermal power plants in India. Between 1996 and 2009, 85 percent of the coal-based [...]

To analyze the operational efficiency of Chinese power sector at the provincial level, this paper studies the convergence of technical efficiency and productivity growth of electricity across 29 Chinese provinces during the period 1996-2008 using several convergence models. Depending on the model being employed, we find evidence of convergence of operational efficiency towards either a national steady state or towards their own steady states, with the latter process occurring more rapidly. In essence, our study provides evidence of negative effects of government intervention. Additionally, we use the nonparametric distribution dynamics approach to analyze intra-distributional dynamics of technical efficiency and productivity. We find some support for productivity convergence while technical efficiency does not converge for provinces with relatively low levels. We discuss policy implementations based on our model results and highlight several aspects for policy making in the power sector reforms currently being undertaken. Keywords: Convergence, Electricity, Operational efficiency, Productivity, 1. INTRODUCTION China's electricity generation market experienced unprecedented expansion in the past decade as the country worked to ensure sufficient and secure levels of electricity supply for sustained and high-speed [...]

We examine whether the unbundling of generation from transmission and distribution services at state-owned power plants in India improved operating efficiency at these power plants. Between 1995 and 2009, 85 percent of coal-based generation capacity owned by state governments was unbundled from vertically integrated State Electricity Boards into state generating companies. We find that generating units in states that unbundled before the Electricity Act of 2003 experienced reductions in forced outages of about 25% and improvements in availability of about 10%, with the largest results occurring 3-5 years after unbundling. We find no evidence of improvements in thermal efficiency at state-owned power plants due to unbundling. Keywords: Indian electricity sector, Electricity sector restructuring, 1. INTRODUCTION This paper examines the impact of electricity sector restructuring on the operating efficiency of thermal power plants in India. Between 1996 and 2009, 85 percent of the coal-based [...]

This paper examines the effects of market restructuring initiatives that introduced competition into the United States electricity industry on the thermal efficiency of electricity generation. An empirical model is estimated [...]

When the Albanese government was elected, it was widely proclaimed that climate policy was back on track in Australia. Eight bleak years of Coalition denialism and intransigence had been punished [...]

Air pollution has serious and long-standing negative effects on human health. The primary focus of research on air pollution in the United States since the enactment of the Clean Air [...]

The recently completed 2023 World Investment Forum in Abu Dhabi saw a rare confluence of leaders from public, private and civil society sectors gathering at dozens of scheduled and dozens more impromptu meetings aimed at building better cross-sector relationships and a common understanding about current best practices and near-term trends in sustainable development around the world. Here is what I took away from those meetings: (1) discussions there were building an investment regime to guide leaders within and across sectors who are trying to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, leading to faster economic development and better environmental, social and governance practices; (2) debates there were focusing on how and how quickly to build that regime and reach those goals with investment projects based on public-private-partnerships; and (3) occasional dissent there about how to build that regime and reach those goals reminded some about inconvenient evidence-based truths about investor- State dispute settlement clauses in bilateral investment treaties and foreign direct investment. I elaborate on those points and conclude with some personal reflections and suggested additions to future meetings aimed at building that investment regime and advancing towards those development goals. Keywords: economic development, environment, sustainability, foreign investment, institutions JEL classification codes: O44, P18, P48, 1. Hammering out an investment regime that supports sustainable development Good policy is hammered out on the anvil of vigorous discussion, debate and dissent. I saw and heard all three [...]

Many electricity markets use capacity mechanisms to support producers. Capacity payments can mitigate imperfections associated with 'missing money' in the spot market and solve transitory capacity shortages caused by investment cycles, regulatory changes, or technology shifts. We discuss capacity mechanisms used in electricity markets around the world. We argue that correctly designed strategic reserves are likely to be more efficient than market-wide capacity mechanisms in jurisdictions that rely on substantial amounts of variable renewable energy and hydro power for electricity supply, such as Sweden. Keywords: Capacity mechanism, Capacity market, Strategic reserve, Resource adequacy, Wholesale electricity market, 1. INTRODUCTION Restructured wholesale electricity markets have a spot market in which consumers pay producers for the electricity they deliver. In energy-only markets, such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway, [...]

BY AUSTYN GAFFNEY Coal ash spill in Kingston, TN, Dec. 25, 2008. It was after midnight. Stars made pinholes in the cold, black sky above the coal-fired Kingston Fossil Plant, [...]

This article examines the strategies used by a democratic state to suppress dissent by criminalizing social protest activities. We compile and tabulate new legislation in Australia affecting protest rights from 2010 to 2020. Using data collected from the Facebook pages of 728 environmental groups and climate-related arrests reported in media articles, we then examine connections between climate change protest and protest criminalization in Australia between 2010 and 2019. Australian governments are shown to have criminalized climate protest via large-scale arrests by introducing laws curtailing protest freedoms and expanding police and corporate discretionary power in the application of those laws. State, corporate, and media actors are shown to engage in the rhetorical criminalization of climate protest, portraying protesters as threats to economic and political interests and to national security. However, the ongoing growth of climate change activism indicates that these criminalization strategies seeking to prevent climate protest may have been largely ineffective. Keywords: activism, civil resistance, climate change, criminalization, environmental movements, protest, repression, As global environmental indicators continue to decline, the escalating effects of climate change are being felt through increased wildfires, floods, droughts, and other natural disasters (Ripple et al. 2017). Australia [...]

The world currently faces two energy crises: We have too little energy, and we have too much. We have too little energy because the main problem that the bulk of [...]

The Paris Accords are arguably the most important initiative ever undertaken to globally address the future of our environment and the future of energy in the 21st century, and beyond. [...]