Stanford University

Electricity

The Missing Link: Constructing a Dynamic Pricing Plan for a Smarter Grid

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California is like many states whose electricity customers are still protected by real-time price risk through fixed retail price.  This fixed retail price, however, restricts the consumer's ability to save money by reducing consumption during peak hours. 

Those queasy about allowing or subjecting customers' to dynamic pricing are up for a fight; major technological barriers to dynamic pricing will soon be eliminated as all three of California's IOUs will have interval meters.  The Home Area Network segment of the Smart Grid Ecosystem Broadband Plan includes some strong words for State PUCs, urging them to in turn push utilities to deliver real time pricing data to consumers.  What remains to be seem is: What set of pricing plans would satisfy both HAN vendors and the PUCs?

Panel discussion topics:

  • Is some dynamic pricing available?
  • What will the plans look like?
  • Research questions
  • What set of pricing plans would satisfy both HAN vendors and the PUCs?

Westin Hotel
Palo Alto, CA

Frank Wolak

Stanford University
Economics Department
579 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford, CA 94305-6072

(650) 724-1712 (650) 724-1717
0
Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies in Economics
Senior Fellow, by courtesy, at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
frank_wolak_033.jpg
MS, PhD

Frank A. Wolak is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Stanford University. His fields of specialization are Industrial Organization and Econometric Theory. His recent work studies methods for introducing competition into infrastructure industries -- telecommunications, electricity, water delivery and postal delivery services -- and on assessing the impacts of these competition policies on consumer and producer welfare. He is the Chairman of the Market Surveillance Committee of the California Independent System Operator for electricity supply industry in California. He is a visiting scholar at University of California Energy Institute and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

Professor Wolak received his Ph.D. and M.S. from Harvard University and his B.A. from Rice University.

Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
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Frank Wolak Keynote Speaker
Lectures

Regulatory Barriers to Lowering the Carbon Content of Energy Services

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A preliminary list of regulatory barriers that restrain the commercialization of technologies that would reduce the carbon content of energy services consumed in the United States.

At the request of the Kauffman Foundation, PESD director Frank Wolak compiled a list of state and local regulatory barriers that restrain the commercialization of technologies that would reduce the carbon content of energy services consumed in the United States.

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Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
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Frank Wolak
Frank Wolak

CalCEF Angel Network: Investing in Electricity, The Ultimate Commodity?

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Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Frank Wolak

Stanford University
Economics Department
579 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford, CA 94305-6072

(650) 724-1712 (650) 724-1717
0
Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies in Economics
Senior Fellow, by courtesy, at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
frank_wolak_033.jpg
MS, PhD

Frank A. Wolak is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Stanford University. His fields of specialization are Industrial Organization and Econometric Theory. His recent work studies methods for introducing competition into infrastructure industries -- telecommunications, electricity, water delivery and postal delivery services -- and on assessing the impacts of these competition policies on consumer and producer welfare. He is the Chairman of the Market Surveillance Committee of the California Independent System Operator for electricity supply industry in California. He is a visiting scholar at University of California Energy Institute and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

Professor Wolak received his Ph.D. and M.S. from Harvard University and his B.A. from Rice University.

Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
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Workshops

Climate Policy Instruments in the Real World

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On Tuesday, September 7, 2010, the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development in collaboration with the Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and Stanford Law School hosted a special conference on Climate Policy Instruments in the Real World.

This conference featured presentations by leading researchers on the political, economic, and regulatory challenges associated with major climate policy instruments.  The goal of this conference was to transfer the state-of-the-art in policy-relevant academic research on key aspects of climate policy design and analysis to the business, regulatory and policymaking communities.  Each presentation was followed by comments from two discussants that develop the practical implications of the research results presented for decision-makers in industry and government.

Topics our experts explored included: setting a price for carbon, engaging the developing world in climate change mitigation, the role of renewable energy sources in climate change mitigation, mechanisms for reducing greenhouse gases from the transportation sector, managing intermittency in the electricity sector, and mechanisms for adapting to climate change.  

We would like to thank everybody for their participation on September 7, 2010.

For more conference information, please visit:

http://www.certain.com/system/profile/web/index.cfm?PKwebID=0x1992925e31&varPage=home

 


Thank you to all our sponsors:

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Bechtel Conference Center

Robert Stavins Speaker Kennedy School of Government
Richard K. Morse Speaker
Severin Borenstein Speaker Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
Christopher Knittel Speaker Department of Economics, UC Davis

Frank Wolak

Stanford University
Economics Department
579 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford, CA 94305-6072

(650) 724-1712 (650) 724-1717
0
Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies in Economics
Senior Fellow, by courtesy, at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
frank_wolak_033.jpg
MS, PhD

Frank A. Wolak is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Stanford University. His fields of specialization are Industrial Organization and Econometric Theory. His recent work studies methods for introducing competition into infrastructure industries -- telecommunications, electricity, water delivery and postal delivery services -- and on assessing the impacts of these competition policies on consumer and producer welfare. He is the Chairman of the Market Surveillance Committee of the California Independent System Operator for electricity supply industry in California. He is a visiting scholar at University of California Energy Institute and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

Professor Wolak received his Ph.D. and M.S. from Harvard University and his B.A. from Rice University.

Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
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Matt Kahn Speaker Institute of the Environment and Department of Economics, UCLA
Conferences

SLAC Colloquium: Reconciling the Rapid Growth of Coal and CO2 Emissions in Global Energy Markets

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Coal is both the world's fastest growing fossil fuel and a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. While in the West coal use is under pressure, much of the developing world is predicating economic growth on cheap, reliable electricity from coal. As a result, the next few decades are likely to witness a massive build out of coal capacity.

Morse will explore where coal markets are growing, examine what economic and political variables have the greatest impact on coal use and the global coal trade, and discuss possible leverage points for CO2 mitigation. One mitigation option is a technology called carbon capture and storage, or CCS. Should we place big bets on this expensive and largely unproven option? Morse will discuss whether the current state of CCS deployment for coal-fired power falls short of mitigation levels required by many widely publicized targets and proceed to analyze the potential for commercial deployment of CCS technology at scale.

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Panofsky Auditorium
Building 43

Richard Morse Speaker
Seminars

Identifying Viable Options in Developing Countries for Climate Change Mitigation: The Case of India

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Journal Articles
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International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE)
Authors
Varun Rai
Varun Rai
David G. Victor
David G. Victor
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Upstream vs. Downstream CO2 Trading: A Comparison for the Electricity Context

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In electricity, "downstream" CO2 regulation requires retail suppliers to buy energy from a mix of sources so that their weighted emissions satisfy a standard. It has been argued that such "loadbased" regulation would solve emissions leakage, cost consumers less, and provide more incentive for energy efficiency than traditional source-based cap-and-trade programs. Because pure load-based trading complicates spot power markets, variants (GEAC and CO2RC) that separate emissions attributes from energy have been proposed. When all energy producers and consumers come under such a system, these load-based programs are equivalent to source-based trading in which emissions allowances are allocated by various rules, and have no necessary cost advantage. The GEAC and CO2RC systems are equivalent to giving allowances free to generators, and requiring consumers either to subsidize generation or buy back excess allowances, respectively. As avoided energy costs under source-based and pure load-based trading are equal, the latter provides no additional incentive for energy efficiency. The speculative benefits of load-based systems are unjustified in light of their additional administrative complexity and cost, the threat that they pose to the competitiveness and efficiency of electricity spot markets, and the complications that would arise when transition to a federal cap-and-trade system occurs.

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Working Papers
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Energy Institute at HAAS
Authors
Benjamin F. Hobbs
James Bushnell
Frank Wolak
Frank Wolak

15th Annual POWER Conference on Energy Research and Policy

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UC Berkeley's the Energy Institute at Haas holds an annual research conference on energy research and policy.  This event brings together scholars and practitioners to exchange research results, ideas, and thoughts on topics related to electricity markets and regulation.

Frank Wolak is scheduled to speak during the Consumer Response to Retail Electricity Pricing section of the conference, titled "An Experimental Comparison of Critical Peak and Real-Time Pricing."

Chevron Auditorium, International House
University of California, Berkeley
2299 Piedmont Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94720-2320

Frank Wolak

Stanford University
Economics Department
579 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford, CA 94305-6072

(650) 724-1712 (650) 724-1717
0
Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies in Economics
Senior Fellow, by courtesy, at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
frank_wolak_033.jpg
MS, PhD

Frank A. Wolak is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Stanford University. His fields of specialization are Industrial Organization and Econometric Theory. His recent work studies methods for introducing competition into infrastructure industries -- telecommunications, electricity, water delivery and postal delivery services -- and on assessing the impacts of these competition policies on consumer and producer welfare. He is the Chairman of the Market Surveillance Committee of the California Independent System Operator for electricity supply industry in California. He is a visiting scholar at University of California Energy Institute and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

Professor Wolak received his Ph.D. and M.S. from Harvard University and his B.A. from Rice University.

Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
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Frank Wolak Speaker
Seminars

Why the United States has yet to Benefit from Electricity Industry Re-structuring

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Frank Wolak discusses restructuring of the electricity industry in the U.S. using examples from California and explains the problems involved in energy market design.

Building 420, Room 40

Frank Wolak

Stanford University
Economics Department
579 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford, CA 94305-6072

(650) 724-1712 (650) 724-1717
0
Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies in Economics
Senior Fellow, by courtesy, at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research
frank_wolak_033.jpg
MS, PhD

Frank A. Wolak is a Professor in the Department of Economics at Stanford University. His fields of specialization are Industrial Organization and Econometric Theory. His recent work studies methods for introducing competition into infrastructure industries -- telecommunications, electricity, water delivery and postal delivery services -- and on assessing the impacts of these competition policies on consumer and producer welfare. He is the Chairman of the Market Surveillance Committee of the California Independent System Operator for electricity supply industry in California. He is a visiting scholar at University of California Energy Institute and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

Professor Wolak received his Ph.D. and M.S. from Harvard University and his B.A. from Rice University.

Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development
Hide publication sections
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Frank Wolak Speaker
Seminars
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