Michael Giberson
@giberson.bsky.social
Electric power regulation, policy, and economics. Political economy. Price gouging in ethics and economics.
You know what isn’t good for grid reliability?
“Just keep that one plant running a little longer.”
The DOE is using emergency powers like duct tape on a cracked pipe. Here I explain why that’s bad policy.
www.rstreet.org/commentary/l...
“Just keep that one plant running a little longer.”
The DOE is using emergency powers like duct tape on a cracked pipe. Here I explain why that’s bad policy.
www.rstreet.org/commentary/l...
Low-Energy Fridays: Emergency Orders Are Not a Grid Reliability Strategy - R Street Institute
In May, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ordered two power plants on the verge of retiring to remain operational for a time. Typical bureaucratic meddling. The agency said that the plants—a Michiga...
www.rstreet.org
July 11, 2025 at 3:57 PM
You know what isn’t good for grid reliability?
“Just keep that one plant running a little longer.”
The DOE is using emergency powers like duct tape on a cracked pipe. Here I explain why that’s bad policy.
www.rstreet.org/commentary/l...
“Just keep that one plant running a little longer.”
The DOE is using emergency powers like duct tape on a cracked pipe. Here I explain why that’s bad policy.
www.rstreet.org/commentary/l...
New York AG’s efforts to clarify enforcement of its price gouging laws is good in principle, and engaging with economics is a good step. Only, they don’t really take economics seriously, so much more work is needed.
truthonthemarket.com/2025/04/22/n...
truthonthemarket.com/2025/04/22/n...
New York’s Failed Economic Case for Price-Gouging Enforcement
A major winter storm across northern New York State in January 1998 snapped power lines and left thousands without electricity, as temperatures plunged. In the small town of Chazy, just south of the C...
truthonthemarket.com
April 24, 2025 at 12:08 PM
New York AG’s efforts to clarify enforcement of its price gouging laws is good in principle, and engaging with economics is a good step. Only, they don’t really take economics seriously, so much more work is needed.
truthonthemarket.com/2025/04/22/n...
truthonthemarket.com/2025/04/22/n...
Electricity production costs can vary dramatically within a day, and consumers end up paying for the really expensive power—just not in a way that’s visible or controllable by consumers. We can do better.
www.rstreet.org/commentary/l...
www.rstreet.org/commentary/l...
Low-Energy Fridays: Your electric bill is hiding something - R Street Institute
When gas prices spike rapidly at every pump in town, boldly displayed for all to see, drivers can adjust their use immediately. But when electricity costs surge, utilities keep charging the same flat ...
www.rstreet.org
March 14, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Electricity production costs can vary dramatically within a day, and consumers end up paying for the really expensive power—just not in a way that’s visible or controllable by consumers. We can do better.
www.rstreet.org/commentary/l...
www.rstreet.org/commentary/l...
In December @rstreet.bsky.social, other consumer advocates, & industrial consumers filed a complaint at FERC seeking reforms in transmission planning (primarily aimed at the regulatory gap that grants monopolies easy access to rate hikes). Here's an explanation. www.rstreet.org/commentary/l...
Loophole Allows Monopoly Utilities to Charge Electric Customers with Minimal Regulatory Oversight. Consumers Want FERC to Fix It. - R Street Institute
Electric bills have been rising, and for most Americans, the largest driver is the regulated “wires” part of the industry—the massive network of transmission and distribution lines that delivers elect...
www.rstreet.org
January 28, 2025 at 5:46 PM
In December @rstreet.bsky.social, other consumer advocates, & industrial consumers filed a complaint at FERC seeking reforms in transmission planning (primarily aimed at the regulatory gap that grants monopolies easy access to rate hikes). Here's an explanation. www.rstreet.org/commentary/l...
Reposted by Michael Giberson
Heads up, the Biden-Harris White House websites are now archived! If you have an old link that gives an error, you can delete the www . whitehouse in the link (be sure to remove the www) and replace with bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/ [rest of your link]
bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/ostp/news-up...
bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/ostp/news-up...
FACT SHEET: Climate and Energy Implications of Crypto-Assets in the United States | OSTP | The White House
Climate change is one of the most pressing problems confronting our nation and our world, and President Biden has taken bold steps to address it with legislation and policy. Among the President’s comm...
bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov
January 24, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Heads up, the Biden-Harris White House websites are now archived! If you have an old link that gives an error, you can delete the www . whitehouse in the link (be sure to remove the www) and replace with bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/ [rest of your link]
bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/ostp/news-up...
bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/ostp/news-up...
It seems an oversight to express concern about the potential abuse of market power in ISOs without at least briefly mentioning ISO market monitoring and market power mitigation measures. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/01/21/c...
Constellation, Calpine, and Market Power
The combined company would have significant market share in several ISOs. As energy economist Frank Wolak once said, “It is difficult to conceive of an industry more susceptible to the exercise of …
energyathaas.wordpress.com
January 21, 2025 at 9:09 PM
It seems an oversight to express concern about the potential abuse of market power in ISOs without at least briefly mentioning ISO market monitoring and market power mitigation measures. energyathaas.wordpress.com/2025/01/21/c...
Texas Republicans did not deregulate, they reformed the regulatory system for the grid covering a large part of the state. Few informed analysts link the reforms to the February 2021 energy system failures. Our “Digital Warrior” is spreading disinformation.
4/ Texas Republicans: "The power grid is unreliable."
Reality: Texas Republicans DEREGULATED the grid, making it a for-profit mess that failed during a deadly winter storm. Hundreds died. Now they blame green energy while handing out corporate bailouts. Blood on their hands.
Reality: Texas Republicans DEREGULATED the grid, making it a for-profit mess that failed during a deadly winter storm. Hundreds died. Now they blame green energy while handing out corporate bailouts. Blood on their hands.
January 17, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Texas Republicans did not deregulate, they reformed the regulatory system for the grid covering a large part of the state. Few informed analysts link the reforms to the February 2021 energy system failures. Our “Digital Warrior” is spreading disinformation.
I’m pretty sure there are superior alternatives to either of these extremes.
Let’s get one thing straight: the cost of the Green New Deal is far less than the cost of losing our planet to the climate crisis.
January 10, 2025 at 1:29 AM
I’m pretty sure there are superior alternatives to either of these extremes.
Whales are the new snail darters?
January 8, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Whales are the new snail darters?
From what I can tell the California Energy Commission is declaring progress on the time honored logic of “Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.” www.energy.ca.gov/news/2024-12...
Californians are Paying Less to Fill Up at the Pump, Due in Part to State’s Gas Price Gouging and Transparency Efforts
SACRAMENTO – Californians are paying less to fill up at the pump, with the annual average price for gasoline at a 3-year low, due in part to the state’s efforts to protect consumers and improve transp...
www.energy.ca.gov
December 27, 2024 at 4:01 AM
From what I can tell the California Energy Commission is declaring progress on the time honored logic of “Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.” www.energy.ca.gov/news/2024-12...
Reposted by Michael Giberson
“How a simple math error sparked a panic about black plastic kitchen utensils”: Does it matter when an estimate is off by a factor of 10?
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2024/12/13/h...
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2024/12/13/h...
“How a simple math error sparked a panic about black plastic kitchen utensils”: Does it matter when an estimate is off by a factor of 10? | Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science...
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu
December 13, 2024 at 4:49 PM
“How a simple math error sparked a panic about black plastic kitchen utensils”: Does it matter when an estimate is off by a factor of 10?
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2024/12/13/h...
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2024/12/13/h...
It probably wasn’t the reporters’ intentions, but this article strike me as expressing begrudging admiration for the careful, long run legal strategies that led to overturning the Chevron doctrine. wapo.st/4g2Stv3
How billionaire Charles Koch’s network won a 40-year war to curb regulation
A seismic Supreme Court ruling on Chevron deference ushered in a new era of diminished federal power. The next Trump administration hopes to capitalize on it.
wapo.st
December 9, 2024 at 2:15 PM
It probably wasn’t the reporters’ intentions, but this article strike me as expressing begrudging admiration for the careful, long run legal strategies that led to overturning the Chevron doctrine. wapo.st/4g2Stv3
Didn’t the IRA include large subsidies for domestic manufacturing of solar? Must not be enough because First Solar and other manufacturers asked for and were given more tariff protection. Now consumers are paying for both solar execs’ belts and their suspenders.
This is madness. If other countries want to sell us solar on the cheap so we can expedite adoption of clean energy, let them. Either climate change is a crisis, or it isn't.
www.reuters.com/business/ene...
www.reuters.com/business/ene...
US sets tariffs for solar panels from Southeast Asian nations
U.S. trade officials announced on Friday a new round of tariffs on solar panel imports from four Southeast Asian nations after American manufacturers complained that companies there are flooding the market with unfairly cheap goods.
www.reuters.com
December 2, 2024 at 12:33 PM
Didn’t the IRA include large subsidies for domestic manufacturing of solar? Must not be enough because First Solar and other manufacturers asked for and were given more tariff protection. Now consumers are paying for both solar execs’ belts and their suspenders.
Trump wants to approve the Keystone XL pipeline on "day one," and also to slap a 25% tariff on oil from Canada which will effectively stop imports and render the pipeline unneeded. How does this make sense?
November 27, 2024 at 7:53 PM
Trump wants to approve the Keystone XL pipeline on "day one," and also to slap a 25% tariff on oil from Canada which will effectively stop imports and render the pipeline unneeded. How does this make sense?
Folks of Bluesky: if you have decamped from Twitter please note that bots may be generating cloned/spoofed accounts under variants of your name. Occasionally check in and report imposters (or let it continue spinning into the universe but realize your photo and name might be spinning along with it).
November 27, 2024 at 2:22 AM
Folks of Bluesky: if you have decamped from Twitter please note that bots may be generating cloned/spoofed accounts under variants of your name. Occasionally check in and report imposters (or let it continue spinning into the universe but realize your photo and name might be spinning along with it).
I told Politico, "[western] energy regulators in both political parties seem happy with how things are going. They’ve seen benefits ..., [No] Republican state commissioners in the West are saying , ‘Let’s stop what’s going on.’"
Let me know if I'm wrong. www.politico.com/newsletters/...
Let me know if I'm wrong. www.politico.com/newsletters/...
Kumbaya for Rs and Ds on the Western grid?
Plenty of Republicans like the latest Western grid proposal. So why worry?
www.politico.com
November 22, 2024 at 11:19 PM
I told Politico, "[western] energy regulators in both political parties seem happy with how things are going. They’ve seen benefits ..., [No] Republican state commissioners in the West are saying , ‘Let’s stop what’s going on.’"
Let me know if I'm wrong. www.politico.com/newsletters/...
Let me know if I'm wrong. www.politico.com/newsletters/...
Reposted by Michael Giberson
I am happy that my paper on transmission line cost allocation with @jacobmays.bsky.social is now out in the energy law journal. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers..... The paper is a deep dive on the law and economics of transmission lines. Full disclosure: I am a transmission line enthusiast.
THE LAW AND ECONOMICS OF TRANSMISSION PLANNING AND COST ALLOCATION
This Article considers how to allocate the costs of transmission when states, utilities, or other classes of customers adopt different clean energy policies. It
papers.ssrn.com
November 18, 2024 at 7:41 PM
I am happy that my paper on transmission line cost allocation with @jacobmays.bsky.social is now out in the energy law journal. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers..... The paper is a deep dive on the law and economics of transmission lines. Full disclosure: I am a transmission line enthusiast.
The economic analysis in this 15 attorneys general letter is embarrassingly bad. Their evidence that higher prices can cause hoarding is a 16-year old USDA report saying the Government of Philippines tried to buy an enormous quantity of rice during a global shortage.
ag.ny.gov/press-releas...
ag.ny.gov/press-releas...
Attorney General James Leads Multistate Coalition Backing National Ban on Price Gouging
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today led a coalition of 15 attorneys general urging Congressional leaders to support a ban on price gouging
ag.ny.gov
November 16, 2024 at 3:57 AM
The economic analysis in this 15 attorneys general letter is embarrassingly bad. Their evidence that higher prices can cause hoarding is a 16-year old USDA report saying the Government of Philippines tried to buy an enormous quantity of rice during a global shortage.
ag.ny.gov/press-releas...
ag.ny.gov/press-releas...
“Yes, we should pass a new federal price gouging law—one that nullifies the many state laws prohibiting it.” www.chicagobooth.edu/review/2024/...
In Praise of Price Gouging
When demand far outstrips supply, unfettered prices are just what we need.
www.chicagobooth.edu
November 16, 2024 at 12:17 AM
“Yes, we should pass a new federal price gouging law—one that nullifies the many state laws prohibiting it.” www.chicagobooth.edu/review/2024/...
It will be interesting to see how the MN policy works out. One might object that it is wrong to force ratepayers to pay for expert testimony from someone with interests different from their own, but ratepayers are already forced to pay for the utility’s experts. The question is …
Hiring experts to testify in utility cases is expensive, but a Minnesota law is helping more groups participate | Energy News Network
State lawmakers last year expanded a law that offers financial compensation to small nonprofits that provide expert testimony in public utility regulatory cases.
energynews.us
November 7, 2024 at 3:33 PM
It will be interesting to see how the MN policy works out. One might object that it is wrong to force ratepayers to pay for expert testimony from someone with interests different from their own, but ratepayers are already forced to pay for the utility’s experts. The question is …
Panel discussion on wholesale power market developments in the western United States. www.rstreet.org/events/an-rt...
An RTO for the West: What Is in it for Consumers? - R Street Institute
Featuring [Moderator] Naureen Malik, Energy Reporter, Bloomberg Michele Beck, Director, Utah Office of Consumer Services Todd Myers, Vice President for Research, Washington Policy Center Josh Smith, E...
www.rstreet.org
October 21, 2024 at 4:29 PM
Panel discussion on wholesale power market developments in the western United States. www.rstreet.org/events/an-rt...
Who could have predicted this mess?
October 19, 2024 at 5:03 AM
Who could have predicted this mess?
I’m quoted in this short report on price gouging. www.npr.org/2024/10/12/n...
www.npr.org
October 13, 2024 at 1:51 AM
I’m quoted in this short report on price gouging. www.npr.org/2024/10/12/n...
RIP Kris Kristofferson
September 30, 2024 at 12:46 AM
RIP Kris Kristofferson