Southern California
Economics of Energy and the Environment:
Southern California Edison
2244 Walnut Grove
Rosemead, CA 91770
September 26 – 27, 2013
Course Description:
Energy market operations and environmental regulation have increasingly become intertwined. An understanding of one is crucial for a complete understanding of the other. Drawing heavily on the tools of economics, this course will cover the fundamental concepts behind various approaches to environmental regulation and their impacts on energy markets. The consequences of various regulatory strategies will be examined in the context of the continuing changes in the organization and regulation of energy markets.
Day One, Thursday, September 26 |
|
| Session 1: Fundamentals of Electricity Regulation | 9:30am – 11:00am |
| Session 2: Competitive Wholesale Electricity Markets | 11:15am – 12:45pm |
| Lunch Break | 12:45pm – 1:45pm |
| Session 3: Market Power in Electricity Markets | 1:45pm – 3:15pm |
| Session 4: Energy Externalities | 3:30pm–5:00pm |
Day Two, Friday, September 27 |
|
| Session 5: Regulating the Environment: Taxes vs. Emissions Limits | 9:00am – 10:30am |
| Session 6: The Economics of Cap-and-Trade Mechanisms and Implementation Issues | 10:45am –12:15pm |
| Lunch Break | 12:15pm –1:30pm |
| Session 7: California’s Tiered Rate Structure and Fixed Charges | 1:30pm – 3:00pm |
| Session 8: Economics of Renewable Energy | 3:15pm –4:45pm |
Instructors
Severin Borenstein, is the E.T. Grether Professor of Business Administration and Public Policy at the Haas School of Business and Co-Director of the Energy Institute at Haas. He is also Director of the University of California Energy Institute. He received his A.B. from U.C. Berkeley and Ph.D. in Economics from M.I.T. His research focuses on business competition, strategy, and regulation. He has published extensively on the airline industry, the oil and gasoline industries, and electricity markets. His current research projects include the economics of renewable energy, economic policies for reducing greenhouse gases, alternative models of retail electricity pricing, and competitive dynamics in the airline industry. Borenstein is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA. He served on the Board of Governors of the California Power Exchange from 1997 to 2003. During 1999-2000, he was a member of the California Attorney General’s Gasoline Price Task Force. In 2010-11, Borenstein was a member of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood’s Future of Aviation Advisory Committee. Since 2012, he has served of the Emissions Market Assessment Committee that advises the California Air Resources Board on the operation of California’s Cap and Trade market for greenhouse gases.
James Bushnell, is an associate professor of economics at the University of California at Davis. He received his BS from the University of Wisconsin in 1989 and PhD in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from UC Berkeley in 1993. His research focuses on industrial organization and regulation, energy economics and policy, environmental economics, and game theorization optimization models. Bushnell is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA. He has also served on the California Independent System Operator’s Market Surveillance Committee since 2002. In addition, Dr. Bushnell served on the California Power Exchange’s Market Monitoring Committee and on the California Air Resources Board’s Economic Assessment and Allocation Committee for its cap-and-trade program. Since 2012, he has served of the Emissions Market Assessment Committee that advises the California Air Resources Board on the operation of California’s Cap and Trade market for greenhouse gases.