Energy Institute at Haas
Events
Energy Institute at Haas Policy Conference
(Formerly the CSEM Policy Conference)
October 26, 2009
10:00am to 4:45pm
Auditorium, CalPERS Building
Lincoln Plaza North
400 P Street, Sacramento
The Energy Institute at Haas (formerly the Center for the Study of Energy Markets) will hold a policy conference on three current energy issues. The Policy Conference offers an opportunity for interactive discussions among policy and industry experts on current crucial energy policy topics. After an initial presentation, a panel of experts will discuss the issues and invite audience participation.
AGENDA
10:00 am – 11:30 am, California’s Building Codes: Good Enough to go National?
Residential building codes are thought to have played a major part in keeping California's residential per capita electricity consumption constant since the mid 1970s. They are among the most progressive in the nation and have served as blueprints for federal and other states' regulations. The Waxman Markey bill proposes a further tightening and more broad roll out of building codes to achieve substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the residential and commercial sectors. It has been argued, however, that these regulations are less effective than one would anticipate on paper, since builders and homeowners may not follow the codes exactly to save on construction costs. The policies have been passed largely based on their savings potential rather than their proven savings. Do building codes actually lead to significant electricity and natural gas savings? Which aspects of historical building codes most diminish their effectiveness? Which California specific aspects of building codes are important components of future more aggressive federal building codes? Presenting the results from US and California-specific data on residential electricity consumption, these questions can be more fully debated and answered in this session.
Presenter: Maximilian Auffhammer (UC Berkeley) Slides
Discussants:
Panama Bartholomy (California Energy Commission)
Gavin Healy (Balance Point Home Performance)
Nehemiah Stone (Benningfield Group, Inc.)
11:30 am - 1:15 pm - Lunch Break
1:15 pm – 2:45 pm, Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Who Gets The Permits?
Under California's proposed cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases (GHG), permits could be very valuable financial assets. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) must decide what share of permits to distribute to firms for free and what share to auction off. Of those to be distributed, CARB must decide how to allocate the permits among participating firms. These decisions will determine which stakeholders are most affected by the program and thus they raise difficult equity issues. How should CARB decide what share of permits to distribute for free, and to which firms? Should allocation be based on the firms' production decisions? How does that allocation formula impact consumers? Should the state focus more on protecting firms or consumers? If the permits are auctioned, who gets the revenues? All these issues will be explored and discussed in this session.
Presenter: Christopher Knittel (UC Davis) Slides
Discussants:
Avis Kowalewski (Calpine Corporation)
Jamie Fine (Environmental Defense Fund) Slides
Norman Pedersen (Hanna and Morton LLP)
2:45 pm - 3:00 pm - Break
3:00 pm – 4:30 pm, Government Subsidies for Renewable Energy: When Is Pricing Greenhouse Gases Not Enough?
Most policy analysts agree that the first response to climate change should be to put a price on greenhouse gases (GHG), but is that enough? Does kick starting renewable energy industries require more than a GHG price? Advocates often argue that costs start high, but will decline as production increases for a number of reasons. "Learning by doing" in producing, installing and operating renewable energy means that more experience will lead to technical advances. Economies of scale imply that large scale production allows fixed costs to be allocated over more units. Network economies suggest that subsidies can help build the industry infrastructure in a location, lower costs for producers there, and make it a center of industry production for years to come. These arguments have been at the heart of support for targeted subsidies to solar and wind power, as well as nuclear generation. How do these theories apply to existing alternative energy sources and nascent technologies, such as tidal power? Do they imply that states should subsidize or favor specific renewables industries rather than utilize across-the-board approaches such as GHG taxes, tradable GHG permits, a standard green power subsidy for all non-GHG sources, or Renewable Portfolio Standards?
Presenter: Severin Borenstein (UC Berkeley, Energy Institute at Haas) Slides
Discussants:
Kenneth Gillingham (Stanford University)
Sue Kately (California Solar Energy Industries Association) Slides
Nancy Rader (California Wind Energy Association)
Joshua Bar-Lev (BrightSource Energy) Slides
Past Programs:
