Research

Working papers

Selected works in progress

“Ownership Structure and Fossil Fuel Infrastructure Retirement: Evidence from Coal’s Decline in the U.S.”

PI: Sam Trachtman In advanced industrial economies, meeting greenhouse gas emissions reductions in accordance with the Paris Agreement targets requires rapidly retiring fossil fuel infrastructure. I argue that the ownership structure of these assets—namely whether they are publicly or privately owned—can condition the degree to which economic, technological, and regulatory pressures lead to infrastructure retirement. Empirically, I examine the retirement of coal electricity generation facilities in the U.S. With the rise of natural gas and renewables and new regulations under the Obama administration, coal generation has declined dramatically since the mid-2000’s. I show, though, that whether and how fast generators retire depends on who owns them. More specifically, the evidence suggests that coal-fired generators owned publicly are slower to retire than privately-owned plants. I suggest that this effect is primarily driven by private firms’ greater access to finance and greater exposure to regulation. This finding has theoretical implications for our understanding of the political economy of energy transition, and implications for advocacy efforts promoting greater public ownership of energy assets.

“Energy transition finance: who backs the ratepayers? Legislating equity into coal debt securitization to ensure ratepayer backed securitization backs the ratepayers”

Code In 2019, three states passed new ratepayer-backed debt securitization legislation to allow utilities to accelerate the retirement of uneconomic coal plants. More states have followed. Enacted bills differ, both in scope and focus, but select few require that securitization bonds also assist workers and communities affected by the energy transition. With coal in decline, more plants will be forced to retire and states have an opportunity––indeed a responsibility––to aid frontline communities.

“Governor Affiliation and the 2017-TCJA Opportunity Zones.” With Briggs Depew.

Opportunity Zones are low-income community census tracts, as established under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. These zones are designed to incentivize economic growth and job creation in low-income and distressed communities by providing tax benefits (capital gains tax incentives) to investors who invest eligible capital into these areas. Governors could nominate up to 25% of eligible census tracts within a state. We examine the effect of the political party of state house representatives on the designation of opportunity zones. Using state house election results, we employ a regression discontinuity framework to compare districts that were represented by an individual with the same party as the governor to the districts that were represented by a party that is different than the governor. By using a regression discontinuity framework, we can compare the causal effect of partisan politics in designating opportunity zones.

Publications

“Limits of Growth: An Ecological Approach to Mainstream Economics.” Published in Digital Commons at USU, 2020 (166:7). Paper.