DER Task Force

#49 The Queen of Power Markets, Lynne Kiesling

Feb 27, 2024

Economist Lynne Kiesling explores decentralized coordination and libertarianism in power markets, discusses projects involving thermostat automation and water heater chip engineering, delves into technological determinism's impact on power markets' evolution, navigates optimism and challenges in the energy sector, and explores historical development and regulation of the electric utility industry.

01:23:07

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Episode guests

Lynne Kiesling

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Quick takeaways

Centralized planning in electrical grids needs flexibility to allow for innovation and adaptability.

Differentiated services in the power sector challenge the notion of electricity as a commodity.

Polycentric governance models promote decentralized decision-making for managing shared resources effectively.

Deep dives

Centralized Planning in a Complex System

The debate around centralized planning in a complex system like the electrical grid revolves around whether it can lead to innovation or create hurdles. Centralized planning, if not flexible, may foreclose opportunities for organic growth and innovation due to overly rigid structures restricting adaptability.

Intro

2min

Exploring Decentralized Coordination and Libertarianism in Power Markets

12min

Discussion on a Project involving Thermostat Automation and Water Heater Chip Engineering

2min

Technological Determinism and the Evolution of Power Markets

23min

Navigating Optimism and Challenges in the Energy Sector

2min

Exploring System Responses, Renegade Microgrids, and the Federal Power Act

1min

Historical Development and Regulation of the Electric Utility Industry

26min

Challenges and Benefits of Planning in Power Systems

15min

We’re back! This time with Lynne Kiesling, Director of the Institute for Regulatory Law & Economics (IRLE) at Northwestern University.

Lynne is an Economist who has been working on power systems issues since the early 2000s, with a focus on power markets, transactive energy, and “quarantining the monopoly” as she says.

Lynne was a panelist at DERVOS, as paying subscribers know from our previously released episode. We felt her Hayekian perspective (distributed, emergent, local) rounded out those from Matt Huber (big, planned, federal) and Pier LaFarge (distributed, planned, local), and she graciously agreed to jump on the pod to dig in.

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DER Task Force

#49 The Queen of Power Markets, Lynne Kiesling

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Centralized Planning in a Complex System

Commodity Nature of Electricity

Polycentric Governance and Common Pool Resources

Trade-offs in Public vs. Private Grid Management

The Cycle of Order and Chaos in Institutions

Epistemology and Innovation in Market Dynamics

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts