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“If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail,” goes the saying. In the context of climate policy, the leading hammer is carbon pricing. To many economists and carbon market enthusiasts, putting a price on carbon… View Summary +

The regulatory system that governs U.S. electric utilities is 130 years old—while our power grid is rapidly modernizing. Utility regulators need a tool that can facilitate reform to keep pace with this change. One tool they are increasingly exploring: performance-based… View Summary +

RAP senior advisor Jim Lazar tells a story about doing a cost and environmental analysis on behalf of the Association of Northwest Gas Utilities in 1990, in which he compared space and water heating run on natural-gas-generated electricity to… View Summary +

The Paris Climate Agreement’s entry into force has clearly not yet spurred policymakers to charge toward the goal of limiting climate change to “well below 2°C” and targeting 1.5°C, warn Dr. Jan Rosenow and Stefan Scheuer. Energy efficiency remains the… View Summary +

China’s current power sector reforms began in March 2015 with Document #9, which was followed by the 13th Five-Year Plan and a series of further policies that aim to reduce renewables curtailment and further integrate renewable energy into… View Summary +

中国当前的电力行业改革始于2015年3月颁布的“9号文”，“十三五”规划以及一系列致力于减少限电和提升可再生能源消纳的政策文件紧随其后。尽管中国朝着既定目标已经取得了显著的进步，但政策制定者仍然面临一些严峻挑战，诸如发电产能过剩，可再生能源并网问题，如何达到空气质量目标，实现温室气体减排目标等。  围绕这些问题，睿博能源智库和自然资源保护协会共同总结了以美国为主的国际经验，希望可以为中国的政府部门提供国际视野和应对方案。我们为此准备了4篇文章，分别涉及到可再生能源并网，电力批发市场，电力规划和政府监管领域。… View Summary +

Electricity distribution networks in Europe run at well below their full potential, finds a new study from the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). The findings show that the unused network capacity could be utilised for charging electric vehicles with little or… View Summary +

中国正在建立可再生能源电力配额制度。国际上可再生能源配额设计的经验可以给中国提供一些参考，比如美国许多州所使用的可再生能源配额制（Renewable Portfolio Standard，简称RPS）。 在中国建立可再生能源电力配额制度时，可以考虑许多类别的设计问题，例如配额比例是基于发电装机容量还是电量？有哪些监管点？如何处理履约灵活性以及与碳政策的相互配合？最近这篇报告 “… View Summary +

Can monopolies with market power send business to other regulated monopolies? Can one monopoly create a “need” for which ratepayers will be charged by another related monopoly? As it stands right now, the answer to both these questions is yes. View Summary +

China is in the midst of creating a quota system for renewable energy. The policy may resemble that used in many U.S. states known as a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), but China’s electricity market and regulatory structures are unique, as… View Summary +