Net-Metered Distributed Renewable Energy: A Peril for Utilities?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Sunar ◽  
Jayashankar M. Swaminathan
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Operations Management ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
The United States ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Common Belief ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Wholesale Market ◽  
Demand Fluctuations ◽  
The Impact

Electricity end-users have been increasingly generating their own electricity via rooftop solar panels. We study the impact of such distributed renewable energy (DRE) on utility profits and social welfare under net metering, which is a widespread policy in the United States. Utilities have been lobbying against net-metered distributed solar based on the common belief that it harms utility profits. We find that when wholesale market dynamics are considered, net-metered DRE may be a positive for utilities. That is, net-metered DRE strictly improves the expected utility profit when the utility’s self-supply is below a threshold and the wholesale electricity price is sufficiently responsive to wholesale demand fluctuations. Our paper distinctively considers both downstream and upstream impacts of net-metered DRE on utilities and analyzes the tradeoff between these impacts. Net-metered DRE can increase utilities’ expenses because of their required buyback from generating customers, and reduces their retail sales revenues. In addition, it can either reduce utilities’ wholesale procurement costs or affect their wholesale market revenues. Our results suggest that utilities might benefit from emerging business strategies that motivate their customers to install solar panels. Our numerical study uses data on the distributed solar in California and the wholesale electricity market operated by the California Independent System Operator, and demonstrates that our findings hold under realistic parameters. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, operations management.

scholarly journals Features of world experience in the management of e-commerce enterprises as subjects of innovative entrepreneurship

2019 ◽  
pp. 74-82
Author(s):  
Volodymyr S. Symakov
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Small And Medium Enterprises ◽  
The United States ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Digital Revolution ◽  
Online Platform ◽  
Online Sales ◽  
The World ◽  
Online Stores ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of the article is to analyze the features of the world experience in the management of e-commerce enterprises as subjects of innovative entrepreneurship and study their content. Methodology. The study used generalizations, comparisons and systematic methods. Results. In the article the specifics of the world experience in the management of e-commerce enterprises as subjects of innovative entrepreneurship are analyzed. The experience of this topic in the leading countries of the world is studied. The list of features of this question is defined. Practical meaning. It is argued that the significant reorientation of world trade to online sales channels due to the impact of quarantine restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 could significantly affect the real level of sales in 2020, adjusting it upwards. It is noted that the industrial revolution turned agrarian societies into production centers and changed people's work and the standard of living they could expect. The digital revolution has also changed the way people communicate, shop and work. Referring to the experience of e-commerce companies, which are directly affected by the digital transformation on the nature and intensity of their activities in both strategic and operational dimensions, it should be noted that digital business strategies continue to review traditional retail through multichannel capabilities. Prospects for further research. Statistics show that mobile commerce, especially the use of mobile applications, is becoming increasingly important in the development of online sales strategies. Yes, Amazon is the leading mobile application for online stores in the United States. At the same time, Amazon singles out a list of development risks that are quite obvious to all retailers operating in the e-commerce environment, primarily related to the implementation of international transactions, which the author cites in the article. The author gives an example of successful European experience in managing an e-commerce company, namely the company “C&A” – a Belgian-German-Dutch network of retail clothing stores. Also interesting is the Chinese e-commerce platform Aliexpress, the international online platform Alibaba (aliexpress.com), which was launched in 2010, and Taobao, the online platform Alibaba C2C (taobao.com), which was founded in May 2003. It is noted that almost 80% of small and medium enterprises consider sales on social networks as a proven strategy to increase revenue.

scholarly journals Partial shading by solar panels delays bloom, increases floral abundance during the late-season for pollinators in a dryland, agrivoltaic ecosystem

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maggie Graham ◽  
Serkan Ates ◽  
Andony P. Melathopoulos ◽  
Andrew R. Moldenke ◽  
Sandra J. DeBano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Restoration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Agricultural Lands ◽  
Partial Shading ◽  
Late Season ◽  
Solar Arrays ◽  
Flower Visitation ◽  
Partial Shade ◽  
The Impact

AbstractHabitat for pollinators is declining worldwide, threatening the health of both wild and agricultural ecosystems. Photovoltaic solar energy installation is booming, frequently near agricultural lands, where the land underneath ground-mounted photovoltaic panels is traditionally unused. Some solar developers and agriculturalists in the United States are filling the solar understory with habitat for pollinating insects in efforts to maximize land-use efficiency in agricultural lands. However, the impact of the solar panel canopy on the understory pollinator-plant community is unknown. Here we investigated the effects of solar arrays on plant composition, bloom timing and foraging behavior of pollinators from June to September (after peak bloom) in full shade plots and partial shade plots under solar panels as well as in full sun plots (controls) outside of the solar panels. We found that floral abundance increased and bloom timing was delayed in the partial shade plots, which has the potential to benefit late-season foragers in water-limited ecosystems. Pollinator abundance, diversity, and richness were similar in full sun and partial shade plots, both greater than in full shade. Pollinator-flower visitation rates did not differ among treatments at this scale. This demonstrates that pollinators will use habitat under solar arrays, despite variations in community structure across shade gradients. We anticipate that these findings will inform local farmers and solar developers who manage solar understories, as well as agriculture and pollinator health advocates as they seek land for pollinator habitat restoration in target areas.

scholarly journals Sustainable Business Strategies as an Element Influencing Diffusion on Innovative Solutions in the Field of Renewable Energy Sources

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (17) ◽  
pp. 5453
Author(s):  
Ewa Stawicka
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovation ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Building Trust ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
The Impact

This article aims to examine the impact of corporate social responsibility, trust, and sustainable business strategies on the diffusion of innovative solutions in renewable energy sources. In this context, the material from the edition of the reports of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development on innovation in the renewable energy industry was analyzed. A survey was also conducted among enterprises from the SME sector on the creation of a business model taking into account the diffusion of innovation in the field of renewable energy sources. The SME sector consists of entities that usually do not have an extensive organizational structure or research and development teams. Nevertheless, in the current economic situation, it is required that they are highly competitive, including through implemented innovations. Conscious participation of SME entities in the process of diffusion of innovation may be a solution that brings innovative solutions closer. The author stated that social responsibility had a moderate impact on the diffusion of innovation in the field of renewable energy in the SME sector, as it contributed the most to building trust in uncertain energy sources. On the other hand, the study conducted by the author showed that greater experience in the field of social responsibility (the company has a CSR department, there is a person responsible for CSR in the company, the company has a CSR policy, the company has a Code of Ethics, social reports are prepared in the company) had a positive relationship with building trust and commitment to innovative activities related to renewable energy sources. Conscious participation of SME entities in the process of diffusion of innovation may be a solution that approximates innovative solutions.

Stock or Print? Impact of 3-D Printing on Spare Parts Logistics

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (9) ◽  
pp. 3860-3878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing-Sheng Song ◽  
Yue Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Cost Minimization ◽  
Unit Cost ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Spare Parts ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Printing Speed

We present a general framework to study the design of spare parts logistics in the presence of three-dimensional (3-D) printing technology. We consider multiple parts facing stochastic demands and adopt procure/manufacture-to-stock versus print-on-demand to highlight the main difference of production modes featured in traditional manufacturing and 3-D printing. To minimize long-run average system cost, our model determines which parts to stock and which to print. We find that the optimal 3-D printer’s utilization increases as the additional unit cost of printing declines and the printing speed improves. The rate of increase, however, decays, demonstrating the well-known diminishing returns effect. We also find the optimal utilization to increase in part variety and decrease in part criticality, suggesting the value of 3-D technology in tolerating large part variety and the value of inventory for critical parts. By examining the percentage cost savings enabled by 3-D printing, we find that, although the reduction in printing cost continuously adds to the value of 3-D printing in a linear fashion, the impact of the improvement of printing speed exhibits S-shaped growth. We also derive various structural properties of the problem and devise an efficient algorithm to obtain near optimal solutions. Finally, our numerical study shows that the 3-D printer is, in general, lightly used under realistic parameter settings but results in significant cost savings, suggesting complementarity between stock and print in cost minimization. This paper was accepted by Victor Martínez-de-Albéniz, operations management.

scholarly journals Consumer Support and Willingness to Pay for Electricity from Solar, Wind, and Cow Manure in the United States: Evidence from a Survey in Vermont

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 4467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang ◽  
Valchuis ◽  
Thompson ◽  
Conner ◽  
Parsons
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Public Investment ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Using Data

Information on public support and willingness to pay (WTP) for renewable energy from alternative sources is critically important for the development and evaluation of renewable energy policies and programs. This study assesses consumer support and WTP for electricity from solar panels, wind turbines, and on-farm anaerobic digester systems (ADS) in the United States, using data collected from a household survey in the state of Vermont. Empirical results suggest that solar power was the respondents’ top choice for public investment, and cow power (electricity generated from ADS) was the least-favored choice. Also, the variations in the likelihood of being willing to pay a premium for each renewable electricity across respondents were closely associated with factors such as education, political affiliation, homeownership, and local agricultural engagement. The relatively low level of public support and WTP for cow power is likely the result of unfamiliarity with this renewable source of electricity, and more educational efforts are highly needed to promote this renewable energy with many environmental benefits for a dairy state.

scholarly journals Unpacking the eagle collision risk model: practical guidance for wind energy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Evans ◽  
Misti Sporer ◽  
Wally Erickson ◽  
Joy Page
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Prior Information ◽  
Risk Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Compensatory Mitigation ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Facility Size ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Survey Effort

ABSTRACTClimate change is one of the greatest threats facing biodiversity, and solutions to reduce carbon emissions are needed to conserve species. Renewable energies are a prominent means to achieve this goal, but the potential for direct harm to wildlife has raised concerns as these technologies proliferate. To protect biodiversity, approaches that facilitate renewable energy development while protecting species are needed. In the United States wind energy developers must obtain a permit for any Bald or Golden eagles that might be killed at a facility. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates fatalities using a Bayesian modeling framework, which combines pre-construction eagle surveys with prior information. The ways in which prior information is incorporated and how pre-construction monitoring affects model outcomes can be unclear to regulated entities and other stakeholders, creating uncertainty in the permitting process and retarding both the build-out of renewable energy and conservation measures for eagles. We conducted a simulation study quantifying the differences in predicted eagle fatalities obtained by incorporating prior information and using only site-specific survey data across a range of scenarios, evaluating the impact of survey effort on the magnitude of this effect. We identified predictable relationships between survey effort, eagle activity, facility size and discrepancies between estimates. We also translated these patterns into real-world financial costs, illustrating the interaction between pre-construction surveys, fatality estimates, and compensatory mitigation obligations in determining permit timing and expense.

Alleviating Drug Shortages: The Role of Mandated Reporting Induced Operational Transparency

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junghee Lee ◽  
Hyun Seok (Huck) Lee ◽  
Hyoduk Shin ◽  
Vish Krishnan
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Product Category ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mandated Reporting ◽  
Pharmaceutical Drugs ◽  
Drug Shortage ◽  
Drug Shortages ◽  
Life Saving ◽  
The Impact

The ongoing shortage of pharmaceutical drugs critically threatens public health. With increasing industry consolidation, operational disruptions at a firm can lead to a nationwide shortage of life-saving drugs. In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandated all manufacturers to report any manufacturing interruption that can potentially cause shortages. The goal of the mandate was to mitigate drug shortages by enhancing operational transparency in the pharmaceutical industry. Subsequently, other countries such as Canada have also begun mandating reporting of interruptions to alleviate drug shortages. We leverage the policy changes in the United States and Canada to understand the impact of mandated reporting induced operational transparency on alleviating the extent of drug shortages. Using the data on time-to-recovery for individual drug-shortage incident and annual-days-of-shortage for each drug, we find that the new policy alleviates drug shortages, but its effectiveness is contingent upon the prevailing level of competition in the product category. Although the intervention is not as impactful under a monopoly, the mandate is most effective under a duopoly, and its impact wanes as competition intensifies. In the absence of the mandate-induced transparency, competition does not necessarily alleviate shortages, but with the regulation, competition can relieve drug shortages. Our results potentially offer healthcare providers and policymakers the impetus to alleviate drug shortages by mandating interruption reporting and improving operational transparency. This paper was accepted by Charles Corbett, operations management.

scholarly journals A Bibliometric Analysis on No-Show Research: Status, Hotspots, Trends and Outlook

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 3997 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheng Wang ◽  
Runhua Wu ◽  
Lili Deng ◽  
Yong Chen ◽  
Yingde Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Operations Management ◽  
Research Direction ◽  
The United States ◽  
Appointment Scheduling ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Services Research ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
The Impact

No-show is a thorny issue within the social scope. It not only affects the sustainability of service system operation but also causes heavy irretrievable losses. To maintain and develop the sustainability of service, this paper adopts bibliometric technology to reflect the current status and future prospects about no-show research. And we strive to explore and summarize appointment scheduling methods for no-show problems. The bibliometric analysis was carried out from various aspects including research areas, countries/regions, institutions, journals, authors and author keywords based on papers harvested from Web of Science Core Collection database. The total 1197 papers show that the United States is in a leading position in this field, followed by England and Canada. University of London is the most productive institution with the highest total citations and H-Index. BMC Health Services Research ranks first as the most productive journal, followed by European Journal of Operational Research and Production and Operations Management. Through the analysis of hot articles, we can conclude that how to reduce the impact of no-shows on the sustainability of service systems has become the main research direction. In addition to appointment scheduling, other effective methods are also mentioned. Further study on these methods will be a major research direction in the future.

The Customer May Not Always Be Right: Customer Compatibility and Service Performance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan W. Buell ◽  
Dennis Campbell ◽  
Frances X. Frei
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Decomposition Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Product Choices ◽  
Variance Decomposition Analysis ◽  
Quick Service ◽  
Loan Growth ◽  
The Impact

This paper investigates the impact of customer compatibility—the degree of fit between customers’ needs and the capabilities of the operations serving them—on customer experiences and firm performance. We use variance decomposition analysis to quantify the relative importance of customer, employee, process, location, and market-level effects on customer satisfaction. In our models, which explain roughly a quarter of the aggregate variance, differences among customers account for 96%–97% of the explainable portion. Further analysis of interaction-level data from banking and quick-service restaurants reveals that customers report relatively consistent satisfaction across transactions with particular firms but that some customers are habitually more satisfied than others. A second set of empirical studies provides evidence that these customer-level differences are explained in part by customer compatibility. Customers whose needs, proxied by differences in demographics and product choices, diverge more starkly from those of their bank’s average customers report significantly lower levels of satisfaction. Consistently, banks that serve customer bases with more dispersed needs receive lower satisfaction scores than banks serving customer bases with less dispersed needs. Finally, a longitudinal analysis of the deposit and loan growth of all federally insured banks in the United States from 2006 to 2017 reveals that customer compatibility affects a firm’s financial performance. Branches with more divergent customers grow more slowly than branches with less divergent customers. Institutions serving customer bases with more dispersed needs have branches that exhibit slower growth than those of institutions serving customer bases with less dispersed needs. This paper was accepted by Vishal Gaur, operations management.

The Battle for the Migrants: The Evolution from Port to Company Competition, 1840-1914

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten Feys
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Board Of Directors ◽  
The United States ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Migration Patterns ◽  
The Board Of Directors ◽  
The Impact

This chapter discusses the role of Dutch and Belgian consular agencies in opening and sustaining the business of transatlantic steamship lines from Rotterdam and Antwerp to the United States. Via a case study of the Holland America Line it analyses the responsibility of shipping agencies to gather information on migrant opportunities in the United States and to maintain the reputation of European ports. It uses the Line’s correspondence with New York shipping agents and the Board of Directors to interpret business strategies and inter-firm relationships. Though little is known about the activities of shipping agents and shipping companies in influencing migration, it concludes that their advertising efforts and the effects of fierce company competition brought the prospects of the New World into the mindset of a great number of Europeans. It requests further scholarly research into the impact of agents on migration patterns

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