This thesis is a collection of three essays discussing the incentive for generation investment in deregulated electricity markets in Texas and California. Essay one: Ex post payoffs of a tolling agreement for natural-gas-fired generation in Texas. To explore the problem of insufficient investment incentive for natural-gas-fired generation in Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), I use a large sample of over 134,000 15-minute observations in the 46-month period of 01/01/2011 - 10/31/2014 to estimate the effects of several fundamental drivers on the ex post payoffs of three hypothetical tolling agreements by heat rate. Our assumed heat rates reflect those of a new combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT), a new combustion turbine (CT) and an old CT. The fundamental drivers are postulated to be the natural-gas price, regional loads, nuclear generation, and wind generation. We find rising natural-gas price and non-West regional loads tend to increase the agreements' ex post payoffs. These payoff increases, however, were reduced by rising West regional load, nuclear generation and wind generation. Finally, we find a substantial payoff decline due to large-scale wind generation development in Texas, lending support to the suggestion of ERCOT's transition from an energy-only market to an energy-and-capacity market. Essay two: Wind generation's effect on the ex post variable profit of compressed air energy storage: Evidence from Texas. We use 1401 daily observations in the 46-month period of 01/01/2011 - 10/31/2014 to estimate wind generation's effect on the daily per MWH arbitrage profits of compressed air energy storage (CAES) in the four regions of Houston, North, South, and West in the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). We find an increase in wind generation's MWH output in the discharge hours tends to reduce a CAES system's profits. The same MWH increase in the charge hours, however, tends to increase profits. Hence, a wind generation capacity expansion that increases wind MWH in both discharge and charge hours has offsetting profit effects, implying that a CAES unit's profitability is unlikely affected by wind generation development. Sharply contrasting the "gone with the wind" profitability problem faced by natural-gas-fired generation, our findings lend support to the financial attractiveness of CAES, whose development is useful for integrating a rising share of wind generation capacity into an electric grid. Essay three: Renewable generation's impact on pumped hydro storage's profitability in California. We use a sample of 860 daily observations over the 28-month period of 12/12/2012 - 04/30/2015 to estimate the effect of renewable generation development on pumped hydro storage's (PHS's) profitability in California. We find that rising renewable generation does not significantly (a = 0.01) diminish a PHS system's daily operating profits from energy sales at the California Independent System Operator's (CAISO's) day-head and real-time market prices, chiefly because renewable generation's merit-order effect on the market prices cuts the system's output revenue in a discharge period and input cost in a charge period. The system, however, faces severely inadequate investment incentive because its annual operating profit can hardly pay for its annual fixed cost. Hence, California should continue its adopted procurement process for long-term contracts with adequate fixed cost recovery, so as to promote PHS to reliably integrate increasing amount of renewable generation into the state's electric grid.

A study to determine whether there is parallel advancement in industrial arts and industry in Texas.

The impact of a mandatory Part 48 training program on the health and safety knowledge level of newly employed inexperienced miners in Texas was studied. Part 48 training was defined by compliance with Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA) mandatory health and safety training requirements. A two-group pretest, posttest research design was utilized. Group one individuals were newly employed inexperienced persons who received mandatory Part 48 training in accordance with MSHA guidelines. Group two subjects were newly employed inexperienced persons who worked for companies that were exempt from conducting a Part 48 training program. MSHA's health and safety knowledge inventory was utilized. A significant difference was found in the health and safety training program when compared with individuals who did not receive the training . A significant difference was also found in the posttest scores for eight of the ten subject areas of the MSHA health and safety knowledge inventory for persons who completed a Part 48 training program when compared to persons who did not receive the training . Analysis of gain scores resulted in significant differences in the same subject areas indicated by posttest scores. It was concluded that MSHA Part 48 did have a significant impact on the health and safety knowledge level of newly employed inexperienced miners. Additional implications noted relate to the impact of a Part 48 training program on accidents, productivity, absenteeism, turnover, job satisfaction and management styles; role of MSHA in miner training; development of new training materials; methods of training; and the evaluation of health and safety training programs.

"The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze locational data on all branch maufacturing plants established in Dallas County in 1954, 1955, and 1956; these data were acquired through personal interviews in 1957. For comparative purposes the same data on branch plants established in 1959 were obtained in 1960. The following elements of the locational process were determined and analyzed: 1. Origin and character of the new plants; specifically location of home office, types of products, size and location of the plant in Dallas. 2.locational process, including company personnel assigned the task of locating a suitable site and local agencies assisting in the locational process. 3. reasons for establishing the branch plant 4. factors that influenced management to locate the plant inDallas in preference to any other locations."-- leaf 4.

World War II was a watershed in American history, altering Americans' perceptions of their place in society. This study focused on Bowie County, Texas, during the twenty-five-year period that began with America's entry into the war. The construction of two defense plants there, Red River Army Depot and Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant, brought immediate changes to surrounding communities, and local residents faced many challenges as they struggled to adjust. This study used extensive primary sources, including archival materials from Red River and Lone Star, oral histories from former employees, census information, minutes from the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce, and local newspapers, to document the social and economic impact of these plants on Bowie County. The body of this dissertation contains nine chapters. Chapters two and three describe how Bowie County obtained and constructed its defense plants, and chapters four through six focus on changes precipitated by the plants during the war years. Chapters seven through nine explore the social and economic impact of the defense presence on Bowie County through 1965. The impact of the defense industries on Bowie County was significant. Plant construction brought thousands of workers into the county, and local residents faced housing, transportation, and sanitation problems. Texarkana experienced serious problems, but its dedicated Chamber of Commerce worked to see that the city benefitted in the long run. During the next twenty-five years, women increasingly entered the work force, but in Bowie County they continued to hold traditional values; jobs provided extras for their families more often than ties to the women's movement. As elsewhere, farmers left farming for factory work, but in Bowie County most clung to their land and their way of life. The world changed for African Americans in Bowie County as well, for by 1965, blacks and whites were working and playing together. The plants introduced employees to industrialization's benefits and drawbacks. With fluctuating employment levels causing concern, business leaders advocated economic diversification. Bowie County, however, experienced continuity as much as change, for residents accepted social changes only when they were necessary for economic development.

Resource recovery is an attractive alternative to the waste disposal problem. The chief by-product of this process, refuse derived fuel (RDF) can be co-fired in traditional coal burning facilities. The cement industry is a potential user of RDF. This study, based on a test burn done at Texas Industries Inc. in Midlothian, Texas, demonstrated the technical, environmental, and economic feasibility of using RDF fuel in a cement kiln. Technically, the cement showed no deleterious effects when RDF was substituted for coal/natural gas at 20% by Btu content. Environmentally, acid rain gases were reduced. Economically, RDF was shown to be a cost effective fuel substitute if a resource recovery facility was erected on site.

World War II represented a watershed event in the history of the United States and affected political, economic, and social systems at all levels. In particular, the war unleashed forces that caused rapid industrialization, immigration, and urbanization in two regions, the South and the West. This study examines one community's place in that experience as those forces forever altered the city of Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to World War II, Fort Worth's economy revolved around cattle, food-processing, and oil, industries that depended largely on an unskilled labor force. The Fort Worth Stockyards laid claim to the single largest workforce in the city, while manufacturing lagged far behind. After an aggressive campaign waged by city civic and business leaders, Fort Worth acquired a Consolidated Aircraft Corporation assembly plant in early 1941. The presence of that facility initiated an economic transformation that resulted in a major shift away from agriculture and toward manufacturing, particularly the aviation industry. The Consolidated plant sparked industrial development, triggered an influx of newcomers, trained a skilled workforce, and stimulated an economic recovery that lifted the city out of the Depression-era doldrums. When hostilities ended and the United States entered the Cold War period, Consolidated and the adjacent airfield, designated as Carswell Air Force Base in 1948, provided the framework for Fort Worth's postwar industrial expansion and economic prosperity. Fort Worth emerged from World War II as one of the nation's premier aviation production centers and as a linchpin of America's defensive strategy. In the process, it became what historian Roger Lotchin has labeled a "martial metropolis." Ties developed during the war between the city and the military extended into the postwar period and beyond as Fort Worth became part of the growing military/industrial complex. From stockyards to defense plants, World War II transformed Fort Worth from agriculture and mavericks to manufacturing and the military.

The New Deal legislation of the 1930s would threaten Dallas' peaceful industrial appearance. In fact, New Deal programs and legislation did have an effect on the city, albeit an unbalanced mixture of positive and negative outcomes characterized by frustrated workers and industrial intimidation. To summarize, the New Deal did not bring a revolution, but it did continue an evolutionary change for reform. This dissertation investigated several issues pertaining to the development of the textile industry, cement industry, and the Ford automobile factory in Dallas and its labor history before, during, and after the New Deal. New Deal legislation not only created an avenue for industrial workers to achieve better representation but also improved their working conditions. Specifically focusing on the textile, cement, and automobile industries illustrates that the development of union representation is a spectrum, with one end being the passive but successful cement industry experience and the other end being the automobile industry union efforts, which were characterized by violence and intimidation. These case studies illustrate the changing relationship between Dallas labor and the federal government as well as their local management. Challenges to the open shop movement in Dallas occurred before the creation of the New Deal, but it was New Deal legislation that encouraged union developers to recruit workers actively in Dallas. Workers' demands, New Deal industrial regulations, and union activism created a more urban, modern Dallas that would be solidified through the industrial demands for World War II.