Within the IEB framework, the Chair of Energy Sustainability promotes research into the production, supply and use of the energy needed to maintain social welfare and development, placing special emphasis on economic, environmental and social aspects. There are three main research areas of interest within the program: energy sustainability, competition and consumers, and energy firms. The energy sustainability research area covers topics as energy efficiency, CO2 capture and storage, R+D in energy, green certificate markets, smart grids and meters, green energy and biofuels. The competition and consumers area is oriented to research on wholesale markets, retail markets, regulation, competition and consumers. The research area on energy firms is devoted to the analysis of business strategies, social and corporative responsibility, and industrial organization. Disseminating research outputs to a broad audience is an important objective of the program, whose results must be relevant both at national and international level.The Chair of Energy Sustainability of the University of Barcelona-IEB is funded by the following enterprises ACS, CEPSA, CLH, Enagas, Endesa, FCC Energia, HC Energia, Gas Natural Fenosa, and Repsol) through FUNSEAM (Foundation for Energy and Environmental Sustainability). The IEB working papers represent ongoing research that is circulated to encourage discussion and has not undergone a peer review process. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IEB.
IEB Working Paper 2016/19 ANALYSING THE IMPACT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY REGULATION ON RETAIL ELECTRICITY PRICESPablo del Rio, Pere Mir-Artigues, Elisa Trujillo-Baute ABSTRACT: Retail electricity prices have substantially increased in the last decade in the European Union (EU) as a result of different regulations, raising the concern of policy makers. The growth in the support costs for electricity from renewable energy sources (RES-E) has often been singled out as a main driver of these prices. The aim of this paper is to analyse the degree of influence of RES-E promotion costs on the evolution of the retail price of electricity in the EU Member States. The analysis is carried out for households as well as for industry, with the help of a panel data econometric model. Our results show that the impact of renewable energy promotion costs on the retail electricity prices is positive and statistically significant, although relatively small. Differences across consumer types can be observed. An increase of 1% in those costs induces an average increase of only 0.023% in industrial retail prices and 0.008% in the residential retail prices. This impact on retail prices is mediated by the type of support scheme being adopted, with price-based support instruments showing a greater effect than quantitybased ones.JEL Codes: L11, Q41, C24
