Allowance trading activity and state regulatory rulings : evidence from the U.S. Acid Rain Program

The U.S. Acid Rain Program is one of the first, and by far the most extensive, applications of a market based approach to pollution control. From the beginning, there has been concern whether utilities would participate in allowance trading, and whether regulatory activity at the state level would f...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Bailey, Elizabeth M.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.
Format: Working Paper
Published: MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research 2009
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45079
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author Bailey, Elizabeth M.
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.
Bailey, Elizabeth M.
author_sort Bailey, Elizabeth M.
collection MIT
description The U.S. Acid Rain Program is one of the first, and by far the most extensive, applications of a market based approach to pollution control. From the beginning, there has been concern whether utilities would participate in allowance trading, and whether regulatory activity at the state level would further complicate utilities' decision to trade allowances. This paper finds that public utility commission regulation has encouraged allowance trading activity in states with regulatory rulings, but that allowance trading activity has not been limited to states issuing regulations. Until there is evidence suggesting that significant additional cost savings could have been obtained if additional allowance trading activity had occurred in states without regulations or that utilities in states with regulations are still not taking advantage of all cost saving trading opportunities, this analysis suggests that there is little reason to believe that allowance trading activity is impeded by public utility commission regulations.
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spelling mit-1721.1/450792019-04-12T09:56:19Z Allowance trading activity and state regulatory rulings : evidence from the U.S. Acid Rain Program Bailey, Elizabeth M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. The U.S. Acid Rain Program is one of the first, and by far the most extensive, applications of a market based approach to pollution control. From the beginning, there has been concern whether utilities would participate in allowance trading, and whether regulatory activity at the state level would further complicate utilities' decision to trade allowances. This paper finds that public utility commission regulation has encouraged allowance trading activity in states with regulatory rulings, but that allowance trading activity has not been limited to states issuing regulations. Until there is evidence suggesting that significant additional cost savings could have been obtained if additional allowance trading activity had occurred in states without regulations or that utilities in states with regulations are still not taking advantage of all cost saving trading opportunities, this analysis suggests that there is little reason to believe that allowance trading activity is impeded by public utility commission regulations. 2009-04-03T17:08:06Z 2009-04-03T17:08:06Z 1998 Working Paper 98005 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45079 39305344 MIT-CEEPR (Series) ; 98-005WP. 38 p application/pdf MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research
spellingShingle Bailey, Elizabeth M.
Allowance trading activity and state regulatory rulings : evidence from the U.S. Acid Rain Program
title Allowance trading activity and state regulatory rulings : evidence from the U.S. Acid Rain Program
title_full Allowance trading activity and state regulatory rulings : evidence from the U.S. Acid Rain Program
title_fullStr Allowance trading activity and state regulatory rulings : evidence from the U.S. Acid Rain Program
title_full_unstemmed Allowance trading activity and state regulatory rulings : evidence from the U.S. Acid Rain Program
title_short Allowance trading activity and state regulatory rulings : evidence from the U.S. Acid Rain Program
title_sort allowance trading activity and state regulatory rulings evidence from the u s acid rain program
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45079
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