In the ongoing debate over “renewable energy,” one of the primary sticking points is the compliance costs that government mandates would impose on utilities, consumers and the broader economy. Critics of a federal electricity mandate have warned that the Southeast in particular would be hard-hit by proposals to produce a certain percentage of electricity from [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 6, 2009 CONTACT: Laura Henderson (202) 621-2951 Fantasy Land: Salazar Announces that East Coast Windmills Could Provide 100 Percent of Nation’s Electricity WASHINGTON, D.C. – IER President Thomas J. Pyle today issued the following statement in response to Secretary Salazar’s assertion that windmills off the East Coast, “could generate 1 million [...]

Robert J. Michaels* It is no secret that the stimulus bill contains both wasteful spending and economically destructive policies. However, one of the bill’s most alarming provisions is little known and difficult to understand: electricity revenue decoupling. Decoupling, another in a long line of anti-consumer energy policies, will force utility companies to raise electricity rates [...]

Robert J. Michaels I. Compounding the Inefficiencies of Regulation Erroll Davis, the former CEO of Wisconsin Electric Power (now a unit of WE Energies) was a rare utility executive. As competitive power markets evolved in the 1990s his low-cost company was ready to move aggressively. And well it should, thought Davis. Almost all utilities enjoyed [...]

GREEN JOBS: Fact or Fiction? An Assessment of the Literature January 2009 By Robert Michaels and Robert P. Murphy Download as PDF Introduction and Executive Summary I. Green Recovery, Center for American Progress II. Job Opportunities for the Green Economy, Political Economy Research Institute III. Current and Potential Green Jobs in the U.S. Economy, Global [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 18, 2008 CONTACT: Brian Kennedy (202) 346-8826 Chris Tucker (202) 346-8825 IER CEO: Obama Energy Plan Resurrects Malthusian ‘Limits to Growth,’ Enron ‘Green’ Energy Plays HOUSTON – History warns against the energy plan proposed by President-elect Barack Obama, according to a new book written by the CEO and founder of the [...]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 17, 2008 CONTACT: Brian Kennedy (202) 346-8826 Expensive “green” energy rejected on ballot initiatives across the country, greater access to domestic supplies of conventional sources still the preferred choice for consumers Washington, DC – Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) won the election, but voters, even in states where he won handily, voted [...]

Less Supply, More Regulations and Higher Prices for American Consumers Before Wall Street’s implosion and the sharp economic downturn, energy policy dominated the headlines on the Presidential campaign trail. An overwhelming majority of Americans demanded access to offshore energy resources to help increase supplies and lower prices for everything from gas at the pump to [...]

Affordable Energy, Greater Access to Domestic Energy Resources Senator Barack Obama won the presidency last week, but voters, even in states where he handily won, voted down the very plans he favors with respect to energy policy.  President-elect Obama says he will require electric utilities to produce more electricity from renewable sources, wants to provide [...]

Synopsis (104KB) Introduction Energy is the lifeblood of our economy. The United States, with less than 5% of the world’s population, uses about 25% of the world’s energy and creates nearly 30% of the world’s economic input. The productivity gained from U.S. energy consumption is a major contributor not only to our quality of life, [...]