IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eneeco/v126y2023ics0140988323004577.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Renewable portfolio standards and electricity prices

Author

Listed:
  • Lee, Kangoh

Abstract

Green targets such as renewable portfolio standards have been popular in recent years, and various aspects of green targets have been studied. However, green targets have not always been supported, and one possible reason is that green targets may increase the electricity price. This paper analytically studies the long-run effects of renewable portfolio standards on the electricity price. The analysis shows that the effects depend on the nature of the long-run average cost. With a constant average cost, an increase in the stringency of the standard increases the electricity price. With an increasing average cost, the effects hinge on whether the average cost of green electricity increases faster or slower than that of brown electricity. The paper also considers the difference between the long-run effects and the short-run effects and the difference between the effects of an increase in the stringency of an existing standard and the effects of introducing a standard.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee, Kangoh, 2023. "Renewable portfolio standards and electricity prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:126:y:2023:i:c:s0140988323004577
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2023.106959
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988323004577
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eneco.2023.106959?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pazheri, F.R. & Othman, M.F. & Malik, N.H., 2014. "A review on global renewable electricity scenario," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 835-845.
    2. de Bovenberg, A Lans & Mooij, Ruud A, 1994. "Environmental Levies and Distortionary Taxation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(4), pages 1085-1089, September.
    3. Jacobs, Bas & de Mooij, Ruud A., 2015. "Pigou meets Mirrlees: On the irrelevance of tax distortions for the second-best Pigouvian tax," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 90-108.
    4. Würzburg, Klaas & Labandeira, Xavier & Linares, Pedro, 2013. "Renewable generation and electricity prices: Taking stock and new evidence for Germany and Austria," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 159-171.
    5. Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2009. "Designing a Carbon Tax to Reduce U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 3(1), pages 63-83, Winter.
    6. Palmer, Karen & Burtraw, Dallas, 2005. "Cost-effectiveness of renewable electricity policies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 873-894, November.
    7. Erin Baker & Meredith Fowlie & Derek Lemoine & Stanley S. Reynolds, 2013. "The Economics of Solar Electricity," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 5(1), pages 387-426, June.
    8. Fei, Li & Dong, Suocheng & Xue, Li & Liang, Quanxi & Yang, Wangzhou, 2011. "Energy consumption-economic growth relationship and carbon dioxide emissions in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 568-574, February.
    9. Diamond, Peter A & Mirrlees, James A, 1971. "Optimal Taxation and Public Production: I--Production Efficiency," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(1), pages 8-27, March.
    10. Gelabert, Liliana & Labandeira, Xavier & Linares, Pedro, 2011. "An ex-post analysis of the effect of renewables and cogeneration on Spanish electricity prices," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(S1), pages 59-65.
    11. Paul J. Burke & Ashani Abayasekara, 2018. "The Price Elasticity of Electricity Demand in the United States: A Three-Dimensional Analysis," The Energy Journal, , vol. 39(2), pages 123-146, March.
    12. Upton, Gregory B. & Snyder, Brian F., 2017. "Funding renewable energy: An analysis of renewable portfolio standards," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 205-216.
    13. Kyriaki Remoundou & Phoebe Koundouri, 2009. "Environmental Effects on Public Health: An Economic Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 6(8), pages 1-19, July.
    14. Ueckerdt, Falko & Hirth, Lion & Luderer, Gunnar & Edenhofer, Ottmar, 2013. "System LCOE: What are the costs of variable renewables?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 61-75.
    15. Severin Borenstein, 2012. "The Private and Public Economics of Renewable Electricity Generation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(1), pages 67-92, Winter.
    16. Johnson, Erik Paul, 2014. "The cost of carbon dioxide abatement from state renewable portfolio standards," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 332-350.
    17. Karen Maguire & Abdul Munasib, 2018. "Electricity Price Increase in Texas: What is the Role of RPS?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 69(2), pages 293-316, February.
    18. del Rio, Pablo & Gual, Miguel A., 2007. "An integrated assessment of the feed-in tariff system in Spain," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 994-1012, February.
    19. Greene, David L. & Patterson, Philip D. & Singh, Margaret & Li, Jia, 2005. "Feebates, rebates and gas-guzzler taxes: a study of incentives for increased fuel economy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 757-775, April.
    20. Lawrence Goulder, 1995. "Environmental taxation and the double dividend: A reader's guide," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 2(2), pages 157-183, August.
    21. Gautam Gowrisankaran & Stanley S. Reynolds & Mario Samano, 2016. "Intermittency and the Value of Renewable Energy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(4), pages 1187-1234.
    22. J. Jason West & Steven J. Smith & Raquel A. Silva & Vaishali Naik & Yuqiang Zhang & Zachariah Adelman & Meridith M. Fry & Susan Anenberg & Larry W. Horowitz & Jean-Francois Lamarque, 2013. "Co-benefits of mitigating global greenhouse gas emissions for future air quality and human health," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 3(10), pages 885-889, October.
    23. Cremer, Helmuth & Gahvari, Firouz & Ladoux, Norbert, 2010. "Environmental tax design with endogenous earning abilities (with applications to France)," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 82-93, January.
    24. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Smyth, Russell & Prasad, Arti, 2007. "Electricity consumption in G7 countries: A panel cointegration analysis of residential demand elasticities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 4485-4494, September.
    25. Adefarati, T. & Bansal, R.C., 2019. "Reliability, economic and environmental analysis of a microgrid system in the presence of renewable energy resources," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 1089-1114.
    26. Diamond, Peter A & Mirrlees, James A, 1971. "Optimal Taxation and Public Production II: Tax Rules," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(3), pages 261-278, June.
    27. Hunt Allcott & Nathan Wozny, 2014. "Gasoline Prices, Fuel Economy, and the Energy Paradox," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 96(5), pages 779-795, December.
    28. Ciarreta, Aitor & Espinosa, Maria Paz & Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina, 2014. "Is green energy expensive? Empirical evidence from the Spanish electricity market," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 205-215.
    29. Frondel, Manuel & Ritter, Nolan & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Vance, Colin, 2010. "Economic impacts from the promotion of renewable energy technologies: The German experience," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(8), pages 4048-4056, August.
    30. Severin Borenstein, 2017. "Private Net Benefits of Residential Solar PV: The Role of Electricity Tariffs, Tax Incentives, and Rebates," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(S1), pages 85-122.
    31. Masoumzadeh, Amin & Alpcan, Tansu & Nekouei, Ehsan, 2020. "Designing tax and subsidy incentives towards a green and reliable electricity market," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    32. Fischer, Carolyn & Newell, Richard G., 2008. "Environmental and technology policies for climate mitigation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 142-162, March.
    33. Carolyn Fischer, 2010. "Renewable Portfolio Standards: When Do They Lower Energy Prices?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 101-120.
    34. Jensen, S. G. & Skytte, K., 2002. "Interactions between the power and green certificate markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 425-435, April.
    35. Fullerton, Don & Monti, Holly, 2013. "Can pollution tax rebates protect low-wage earners?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 539-553.
    36. Nils‐Henrik M. von der Fehr & Stephanie Ropenus, 2017. "Renewable Energy Policy Instruments and Market Power," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(2), pages 312-345, April.
    37. Chien-Chiang Lee & Jun-De Lee, 2010. "A Panel Data Analysis of the Demand for Total Energy and Electricity in OECD Countries," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 1-24.
    38. J. A. Mirrlees, 1971. "An Exploration in the Theory of Optimum Income Taxation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 38(2), pages 175-208.
    39. Thure Traber & Claudia Kemfert, 2009. "Impacts of the German Support for Renewable Energy on Electricity Prices, Emissions, and Firms," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 155-178.
    40. Gerlach, Heiko & Zheng, Xuemei, 2018. "Preferences for green electricity, investment and regulatory incentives," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 430-441.
    41. William Jaeger, 2011. "The Welfare Effects of Environmental Taxation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 49(1), pages 101-119, May.
    42. Amundsen, Eirik S. & Mortensen, Jorgen Birk, 2001. "The Danish Green Certificate System: some simple analytical results," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 489-509, September.
    43. Constant I. Tra, 2016. "Have Renewable Portfolio Standards Raised Electricity Rates? Evidence From U.S. Electric Utilities," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 34(1), pages 184-189, January.
    44. Bilgili, Mehmet & Ozbek, Arif & Sahin, Besir & Kahraman, Ali, 2015. "An overview of renewable electric power capacity and progress in new technologies in the world," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 323-334.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jacobs, Bas & van der Ploeg, Frederick, 2019. "Redistribution and pollution taxes with non-linear Engel curves," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 198-226.
    2. Philippe Bontems & Estelle Gozlan, 2018. "Trade, environment, and income inequality: An optimal taxation approach," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 20(4), pages 557-581, August.
    3. Bas (B.) Jacobs & Rick (F.) van der Ploeg, 2017. "Should Pollution Taxes Be Targeted At Income Redistribution?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 17-070/VI, Tinbergen Institute.
    4. Costa-Campi, Maria Teresa & Trujillo-Baute, Elisa, 2015. "Retail price effects of feed-in tariff regulation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 157-165.
    5. Jacobs, Bas & de Mooij, Ruud A., 2015. "Pigou meets Mirrlees: On the irrelevance of tax distortions for the second-best Pigouvian tax," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 90-108.
    6. Franziska Klein & Jeroen van den Bergh, 2021. "The employment double dividend of environmental tax reforms: exploring the role of agent behaviour and social interaction," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 189-213, April.
    7. Costa-Campi, Maria Teresa & Trujillo-Baute, Elisa, 2015. "Retail price effects of feed-in tariff regulation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 157-165.
    8. Wolfram F. Richter, 2007. "Taxing Human Capital Efficiently – The Double Dividend of Taxing Nonqualified Labour More Heavily Than Qualified Labour," Ruhr Economic Papers 0012, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    9. Aubert, Diane & Chiroleu-Assouline, Mireille, 2019. "Environmental tax reform and income distribution with imperfect heterogeneous labour markets," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 60-82.
    10. Abrell, Jan & Kosch, Mirjam & Rausch, Sebastian, 2019. "Carbon abatement with renewables: Evaluating wind and solar subsidies in Germany and Spain," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 172-202.
    11. Newbery, David & Pollitt, Michael G. & Ritz, Robert A. & Strielkowski, Wadim, 2018. "Market design for a high-renewables European electricity system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 695-707.
    12. Paschen, Marius, 2016. "Dynamic analysis of the German day-ahead electricity spot market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 118-128.
    13. Thomas P. Tangerås, 2015. "Renewable Electricity Policy and Market Integration," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    14. Richter, Wolfram F., 2006. "Taxing Human Capital Efficiently: The Double Dividend of Taxing Non-Qualified Labour More Heavily Than Qualified Labour," IZA Discussion Papers 2328, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. repec:zbw:rwirep:0012 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Brita Bye & Karine Nyborg, 1999. "The Welfare Effects of Carbon Policies: Grandfathered Quotas versus Differentiated Taxes," Discussion Papers 261, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    17. Morris, Adele C. & Nivola, Pietro S. & Schultze, Charles L., 2012. "Clean energy: Revisiting the challenges of industrial policy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(S1), pages 34-42.
    18. Rafael Aigner, 2014. "Environmental Taxation and Redistribution Concerns," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 70(2), pages 249-277, June.
    19. Würzburg, Klaas & Labandeira, Xavier & Linares, Pedro, 2013. "Renewable generation and electricity prices: Taking stock and new evidence for Germany and Austria," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 159-171.
    20. Rinne, Sonja, 2024. "Estimating the merit-order effect using coarsened exact matching: Reconciling theory with the empirical results to improve policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    21. Don Fullerton & Chi L. Ta, 2022. "What Determines Effectiveness of Renewable Energy Standards? General Equilibrium Analytical Model and Empirical Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 9565, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Renewable portfolio standards; Green electricity; Brown electricity; Electricity prices;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q2 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics
    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:126:y:2023:i:c:s0140988323004577. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eneco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.