This dissertation is composed of three essays dealing with renewable energy generation and the demand-side management (DSM) of electric utilities. The first two essays tackle small-scale and large-scale supply of electricity from renewable sources. The third one looks into the implications of context and ownership form of electric utilities for DSM. Understanding the politics and policy of renewable energy generation and the performance of DSM programs is the overall theme of this dissertation. The first essay highlights the role of local governments in institutionalizing distributed renewable energy generation by leveraging their authority on land use to permit small-scale systems located at customer site. It examines the factors shaping policy adoption on distributed renewable energy generation through the lens of transaction-cost politics. It teases out the political exchanges and the attendant transaction costs arising from adopting a policy on distributed renewable energy generation. It examines the transaction resources that enable actors to overcome these barriers. The second essay focuses on renewable energy generated by investor-owned utilities. It examines the transaction costs salient to large-scale renewable energy generation in regulated and deregulated states. It contends that renewable energy generation varies in the way the policy environment shapes the transactions of actors and the way they deal with transaction costs. Transactions are specific to the characteristics and location of large-scale systems, the community being served, the political institutions present, and the policies being implemented. Geographic Information System (GIS) is used to delineate the service areas of investor-owned utilities as spatial units of analysis. Spatial regression analysis is applied to account for the idiosyncratic nature of electricity supply and the legacy system of vertically integrated utilities. The third essay examines the contextual drivers that affect the performance of DSM programs, that is, the energy efficiency gains of municipal-owned utilities (MOUs) and electric cooperatives. These factors include the demographic profile and housing stock that characterize the utilities' service territories, and the environmental constituencies, political support, and energy-related polices operating in those areas. This essay complements existing literature on DSM and energy use, which has largely focused on rationalist models and pro-environmental behavior of individual consumers. It also looks into how the ownership form of electric utilities affects the relationship between these contextual drivers and energy efficiency gains. Focus is on MOUs and electric cooperatives since DSM programs generally reside in these utilities and are not implemented by third-party entities. MOUs and electric cooperatives are similar in size and scope but differ in ownership form, governance structure, and internal controls. / A Dissertation submitted to the Reubin O'D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2014. / June 23, 2014. / Demand-Side Management, Electric Utilities, Land Use, Regulation and Deregulation, Renewable Energy, Transaction Costs / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard C. Feiock, Professor Directing Dissertation; Tingting Zhao, University Representative; Lance deHaven-Smith, Committee Member; Kaifeng Yang, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_185376 |
| Contributors | Cruz, Rizalino B. (authoraut), Feiock, Richard C. (professor directing dissertation), Zhao, Tingting (university representative), deHaven-Smith, Lance (committee member), Yang, Kaifeng (committee member), School of Public Administration and Policy (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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