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McCullough Research occasionally publishes opinion pieces, essays and articles. Please contact the publication listed for permission to reproduce or distribute these items.

1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006,2008

 

2008

February, 2008
The High Cost of Restructuring
RTO Markets aren't living up to the promise of cheap power. -- Public Utilities Fortnightly, Robert McCullough, Berne Martin Howard and Michael Deen

2006

March 27, 2006
A Decisive Time for LNG
LNG's place in an efficient energy economy  -- Daily Astorian, Opinion Editorial, Robert McCullough & Ann Stewart

February 15, 2006
Utilities and Trade Secrets: Retain the Openness in Utility Regulation
T
he importance of public accessibility to information about utilities' operations and infrastructure.  -- The Oregonian, Opinion Editorial, Robert McCullough

February 9, 2006
Opening the Books
"Enron, in spite of recent evidence, will eventually fade away.  The issue that lawyers and economists call transparency -- openness -- will not.  The basic protections for consumers and investors have against fraud is information. . . The best way to avoid a repetition of such schemes is to make sure that public policy in Oregon continues to provide the citizens of Oregon with open information on the operations of the electric infrastructure that is critical for their lives." -- The Oregonian, Opinion Editorial, Robert McCullough

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2005

August 2, 2005
Squeezing Scarcity from Abundance
Analyzes the California Energy Crisis and critiques regulatory attempts -- Public Utilities Fortnightly, Robert McCullough

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2003

March 25, 2003
Revisiting California

A follow-up to Price Spike Tsunami: How Market Power Soaked California:  "the crisis turned out to be a problem in institutions and not resources",  and "California's restructuring was characterized by six words - 'bad design, bad incentives, bad results'. " -- Public Utilities Fortnightly, Robert McCullough

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2002

July 9, 2002
Opinion Editorial
Analyzes Seattle City Light's actions during the California crisis -- Seattle Times, Opinion Editorial, Robert McCullough

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2001

February 1, 2001
Letter to the Governor: What Oregon Should Know About the ISO
"The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Dec. 15 order proposing remedies for calming runaway prices in the western power markets was largely disconnected from the ongoing crisis. . . . The result, amply shown in this order, has been to cancel the parts of the experiment that do not agree with FERC's beliefs, without really focusing on the underlying problems." -- Public Utilities Fortnightly, Robert McCullough

January 1, 2001
Price Spike Tsunami: How Market Power Soaked California
Cover story article detailing market power abuses in California -- Public Utilities Fortnightly, Robert McCullough

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1999

March 1, 1999
Electric Competition, One Year Later: Winners and Losers in California
"California's Electric Restructuring Plan, launched April 1, 1998, marks one of the most ambitious attempts in U.S. history to place the state in a social engineering role."  How has the experiment gone? -- Public Utility Fortnightly, Robert McCullough

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1998

July 15, 1998
California's Electricity Market: Are Customers Necessary? Why Competitive energy suppliers see retail consumers as a burden under the current rules
"A careful review shows that the California Public Utilities Commission, guided by the torturous language of Assembly Bill 1890, the state's electric restructuring law, has created a situation where customers are not necessarily a part of a competitive market. While that may sound peculiar, not to say counterproductive, it simply reflects the PUC's preoccupation with theoretical market issues and its lack of interest in short-term customer welfare. As the PUC has stated many times, its major interest was in achieving a transparent pricing and market structure. It may well
have succeeded but at the cost of giving up market access for the customers themselves." -- Public Utilities Fortnightly, Robert McCullough

March 15, 1998
Can Electricity Markets Work Without Capacity Prices?
"Many players in the electric industry have come to believe that energy-only prices will soon replace the hundred-year tradition of pricing both energy and capacity. This idea, sometimes called "monomic" trading, offers a seductive simplicity. Even so, research indicates that it is unlikely to work well." -- Public Utilities Fortnightly, Robert McCullough

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