Gautam Gowrisankaran (Columbia University)

Gautam Gowrisankaran is an expert in industrial organization, healthcare economics, and energy and environmental economics. Professor Gowrisankaran has analyzed issues of market definition and market power, the competitive effects of mergers, and claims of attempted monopolization. He has also addressed allegations of tying, foreclosure, and other exclusionary practices arising in such industries as healthcare, consumer goods, high-tech products, payment services, and transportation.Prior to joining the faculty at Columbia, Professor Gowrisankaran was a tenured professor of economics and the Peter and Nancy Salter Chair in Healthcare Management at the University of Arizona. He has held visiting academic appointments at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, Yale University, and Harvard University, among others.

Title: Energy Transitions in Regulated Markets

Abstract: Natural gas has replaced coal as the dominant fuel for U.S. electricity generation.
However, U.S. states that regulate electric utilities have retired coal more slowly than others. We build a structural model of rate-of-return regulation during an energy transition where utilities face tradeoffs between lowering costs and maintaining coal capacity. We find that the current regulatory structure retires only 45% as much coal capacity as a cost minimizer. A regulated utility facing a carbon tax does not lower carbon emissions immediately but retires coal similarly to the social planner. Alternative regulations with faster transitions clash with affordability and reliability goals.

The full paper can be found here.