“When I attend NARUC meetings and other topical meetings, I am absolutely astounded by the number of rent-seeking non-profit organizations that are advocating for changes to shape the electric industry in ways that accommodate their interests (where do they get all that funding?).
Not all of them are wrong! But most assuredly, many of them are!”
The electricity regulatory framework is broken.
The long list of market distorting policy includes subsidies, mandates, mispricing, costly but ineffective regulations, entry restrictions, political vs. evidence based decision-making, social vs. market emphasis, and just plain anti-market bias. Add to this a gaggle of well-financed crony capitalists that can attend endless meetings to advocate for more of these misguided efforts.
The myriad reforms, just another layer of politicization, will take us even further from an economically coherent electric services industry to one that is full of command and control.…
Like many Americans, I shake my head at the Obama Administration’s energy decisions. I am firmly convinced that the United States economy has been jeopardized by their actions, both made and not made. But hope springs eternal, and it is that time of year.
To many of you, I have a well-deserved reputation as a committed advocate for free energy markets. So it might seem incongruous to some that I would support a cabinet nomination by a progressive president.
Yet, here I am. President Obama has nominated Dr. Ernest Moniz to be the next Secretary Of Energy. I support that decision, and I believe all conservatives/market fans should do so also.
When I was CEO of the Center for the Advancement of Energy Markets (CAEM), the Board of Directors voted to issue an invitation to Dr.…
In an earlier post, I asked readers to consider four thought experiments regarding the reprioritization of our public-policy work on energy. Here is my response to your much-appreciated comments and a proposed path forward.
Thought Experiment 1. Let’s demote oil and climate change to secondary status as analytical issues.
To my surprise, no one seemed to disagree with my proposal. Yet popular media coverage of these issues is probably 90+%.
Thought Experiment 2. Let’s elevate the dialogue about fundamental electric industry reform to primary status.
…Again to my surprise, no one seemed to disagree with my proposal, which leads me to wonder why this issue does not get the attention it deserves. My best guess is you cannot boil the solution down to a three word sound bite (Drill Baby Drill!