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Past Event
WED@NICO SEMINAR: Steve Cicala, University of Chicago "Imperfect Markets versus Imperfect Regulation in U.S. Electricity Generation"
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
12:00 PM
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Lower Level, Chambers Hall
Details

Speaker:
Steve Cicala - Assistant Professor, University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy
Title:
Imperfect Markets versus Imperfect Regulation in U.S. Electricity Generation
Abstract:
This paper evaluates changes in electricity generation costs caused by the introduction of market mechanisms to allocate production in the United States. I use the staggered transition to markets from 1999-2012 to estimate the causal impact of liberalization using a differences-in-differences design on a comprehensive hourly panel of electricity demand, generators' costs, capacities, and output. I find that markets reduce production costs by 5% by reallocating production: Gains from trade across service areas increase by 55% based on a 25% increase in traded electricity, and costs from using uneconomical units fall 16%.
Speaker Bio:
Steve Cicala is an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His work focuses on the economics of regulation, particularly with respect to environmental and energy policy.
Live Stream:
Time
Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Location
Lower Level, Chambers Hall Map
Contact
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Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
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