TITLE:
Carbon Tax and Renewable Energy Diffusion in the Deregulated Texas Electricity Market: An Agent-Based Analysis
AUTHORS:
Joshua D. Halperin, I-Tsung Tsai
KEYWORDS:
Deregulated Electricity Market, Rebewable Adoption, Agent-Based Modeling, Monte Carlo Simulation
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Power and Energy Engineering,
Vol.3 No.4,
April
15,
2015
ABSTRACT: In the United States, emission regulations
are enacted at a state level; individual states are allowed to define what methods
they will use to mitigate their carbon emissions. The consequence of this is
especially interesting in the state of Texas where new legislation has created
a “deregulated” electricity market in which end-users are capable of choosing
their electricity provider and subsequently the type of electricity they wish
to consume (generated by fossil fuels or renewable sources). In this paper we
analyze the effects of carbon tax on the development of renewable generation
capacity at the utility level while taking into account expected adoption of
rooftop PV systems by individual consumers using agent based modeling
techniques. Monte Carlo simulations show carbon abatement trends and proffer
updated renewable portfolio standards at various levels of likelihood.