Determinants of the Cost of Electricity Service in PCE Eligible Communities

This report is one of two companion reports ISER prepared for the Alaska Energy Authority. The other report, “True Cost of Electricity in Rural Alaska and True Cost of Bulk Fuel in Rural Alaska,” is dated October 26, 2016. That report estimates the full costs of providing electricity in rural Alaska, including the costs of subsidies provided to lower the price consumers pay. This second report assesses how the costs of electric generation in Power Cost Equalization (PCE) communities are or might be affected by three factors that are not related to the differences in electricity generation costs. Those three factors are the organizational structures of utilities, postage stamp rate design, and managerial information available on energy subsidy programs. 1. Organizational Structures of Utilities Electric utilities in PCE communities are organized as cooperatives, are run by local villages and municipalities, or are investor-owned utilities. The scale of these utilities varies widely, and includes regional utilities that manage separate electric grids in multiple communities. A review of those organizational structures indicates that: 1.1. There are significant differences in distribution, customer service, and general and administrative costs (DCG&A) across utilities. These differences are correlated with the utility size and organizational structure, with the smallest utilities having significantly higher DCG&A costs per kWh. 1.2. Small local utilities that have merged with larger regional utilities have benefited from reduced costs and professional management. Incentives to encourage small local utilities to join larger, more efficient regional utilities should be considered. 1.3. The cost of borrowing for large local and regional electric coops remains low compared with that for stand-alone local villages, municipalities, and investor-owned utilities. 1.4. The state government should consider allowing a return on equity as an allowable expense within the PCE cost of service [AS 42.45.110(a)] to enable utilities to build equity, enhance debt coverage and facilitate the expanded use of private capital, and reduce dependency on limited public capital resources. This private capital may take the form of investor capital for investor-owned utilities or member capital for cooperatives. 2. Postage Stamp Rate Designs 2.1. Postage stamp rate designs—a single rate for electricity for some set of customers—can help reduce costs and improve affordability in smaller, remote communities through an implicit cost subsidization from customers in larger communities. 4 2.2. The subsidies in postage stamp rates may decrease incentives for utilities to manage their costs, because higher costs may be subsidized by postage stamp rate-making. 2.3. The increase in cost in subsidy-providing communities risks inefficient bypass by large commercial or government users. This could increase the total cost of electric service and leave the remaining customers with higher rates and diminished affordability. Separating communities into rate groups according to their cost structure may mitigate, but not eliminate, the risk of self-generators bypassing the local electric utility. 3. Efficiency in Governance of Energy Subsidy Systems 3.1. To assess whether the PCE program is achieving its goals, transparent information about the allocation of the subsidies and about the operation of the subsidized utilities is required. The companion report to this one identified some issues about reliability of information generated under the current reporting system. Improvements in the reporting requirements could address these issues. A common issue is inconsistency in accounting for capital that state and federal agencies contribute to utilities. Those capital contributions include both grants or low-interest loans to finance capital projects as well as sources of short-term government financing, such as annual fuel loans, emergency loans, and write-offs of operating loans for troubled utilities. If capital investments for generation were separated from other capital, investments to reduce fuel costs (such as wind power) could be assessed more directly. 3.2. The PCE program is one of several programs that subsidize energy costs in rural Alaska, and an understanding of the interaction among these programs is required. An annual compilation of all state and federal heating and electrical subsidy support systems by community would enable better understanding of both individual program impact and also the collective programmatic impact of the subsidies on energy affordability. 3.3. Information on system reliability, usually measured as outage hours, is required to fully assess utility performance. 3.4. Currently, there is no information on how well the PCE program and other energy subsidy programs in rural Alaska target families and communities that face the greatest energy affordability challenges. Because of limitations on income data in small rural Alaska communities, assessing how well subsidies are targeted may be challenging. However, in light of general information that energy subsidies are often inefficient at poverty reduction, this is an important question. 3.5. The environmental impact of energy subsidies for rural Alaska, including the PCE program, through CO2 emissions and PM 2.5 emissions, has not been assessed.Alaska Energy AuthorityExecutive Summary / Background / Impact of Alternative Utility Organizational Structures on Cost / Postage Stamp Rate Design Issues for PCE Communities / Energy Subsidy Administration / Summar

Inclusionary Zoning In Canada: Planning For Inclusion By Creating Affordable Housing

Through affordable housing strategies many urban areas have been looking to support social inclusion. Inclusionary zoning is one such strategy that looks to extract affordable housing from market-rate housing developers. Several cities have enforced inclusionary zoning policies in North America; however, the majority of them have been in the United States. Canada has faced similar affordable housing shortages as the US has but unfortunately Canadian municipalities lack the power that many US municipalities have in regards to enforcing inclusionary zoning policy. Many municipalities in Canada have been subject to social issues that accompany a lack of legislative investment from the province to support affordable housing. Ontario, is currently looking at enabling its constituent municipalities to make inclusionary zoning policies. It is believed that it will make a big difference for large urban areas like Toronto, a city that has been requesting these powers for some time. It is the hope of many that Toronto can use inclusionary zoning to support a sustainable supply of affordable housing. This will help the City continue to focus on being a city of inclusion and opportunity. Inclusionary zoning has been widely debated in the context of Toronto and it is through these debates that question arise whether Toronto can support inclusionary zoning strategies or whether they will be of any benefit at all. A major focal point for the research was to evaluate whether or not inclusionary zoning can create a sustainable supply of affordable housing in the City of Toronto. It is thought that it can but it must be implemented in such a way that it supports good planning principals and initiatives

Validation of a smartphone app to map social networks of proximity

Social network analysis is a prominent approach to investigate interpersonal relationships. Most studies use self-report data to quantify the connections between participants and construct social networks. In recent years smartphones have been used as an alternative to map networks by assessing the proximity between participants based on Bluetooth and GPS data. While most studies have handed out specially programmed smartphones to study participants, we developed an application for iOS and Android to collect Bluetooth data from participants own smartphones. In this study, we compared the networks estimated with the smartphone app to those obtained from sociometric badges and self-report data. Participants (n=21) installed the app on their phone and wore a sociometric badge during office hours. Proximity data was collected for 4 weeks. A contingency table revealed a significant association between proximity data (rho = 0.17, p<0.0001), but the marginal odds were higher for the app (8.6%) than for the badges (1.3%), indicating that dyads were more often detected by the app. We then compared the networks that were estimated using the proximity and self-report data. All three networks were significantly correlated, although the correlation with self-reported data was lower for the app (rho = 0.25) than for badges (rho = 0.67). The scanning rates of the app varied considerably between devices and was lower on iOS than on Android. The association between the app and the badges increased when the network was estimated between participants whose app recorded more regularly. These findings suggest that the accuracy of proximity networks can be further improved by reducing missing data and restricting the interpersonal distance at which interactions are detected.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure

Using Bluetooth Low Energy in smartphones to map social networks

Social networks have an important role in an individual's health, with the propagation of health-related features through a network, and correlations between network structures and symptomatology. Using Bluetooth-enabled smartphones to measure social connectivity is an alternative to traditional paper-based data collection; however studies employing this technology have been restricted to limited sets of homogenous handsets. We investigated the feasibility of using the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol, present on users' own smartphones, to measure social connectivity. A custom application was designed for Android and iOS handsets. The app was configured to simultaneously broadcast via BLE and perform periodic discovery scans for other nearby devices. The app was installed on two Android handsets and two iOS handsets, and each combination of devices was tested in the foreground, background and locked states. Connectivity was successfully measured in all test cases, except between two iOS devices when both were in a locked state with their screens off. As smartphones are in a locked state for the majority of a day, this severely limits the ability to measure social connectivity on users' own smartphones. It is not currently feasible to use Bluetooth Low Energy to map social networks, due to the inability of iOS devices to detect another iOS device when both are in a locked state. While the technology was successfully implemented on Android devices, this represents a smaller market share of partially or fully compatible devices.Comment: 6 pages, 1 tabl

The implications of long term community involvement for the production and circulation of population knowledge

Demographic surveillance systems (DSS) depend on community acceptance and involvement to produce high quality longitudinal data. Ensuring community support also exposes power relations usually concealed in the research process. We discuss the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System in South Africa to argue that: 1) long-term presence and community involvement contribute to high response rates and data quality, 2) to maintain community support the project must demonstrate its usefulness, 3) reporting to community members provides valuable checks on the local relevance and comprehension of questions, and 4) community opinion can modify both wording and content of research questions.community, demographic surveillance system, fertility, health, knowledge, longitudinal, migration, mortality, South Africa

Beam to Chart: A Case Study of the LIDAR Survey of the Sound of Harris

Tenix LADS Corporation conducted the LIDAR survey of the Sound of Harris in March 2004, for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). The survey was conducted using the LADS Mk II system. The survey area was most complex with many islands, shoals and narrow channels (see Figure 1). Survey data extended from topographic heights up to 50 metres above the sea surface to maximum depths of 25 metres below chart datum.Tenix LADS Corporation llevô a cabo un levantamiento LIDAR del Pasaje de Harris para la Agenda Marîtima y de Guardacostas (AMG), en Marzo del 2004. El levantamiento fue realizado utilizando el sistema LADS Mk II. El ârea del levantamiento era bastante compleja, con muchas islas, bajos fondos y canales angostos (ver Figura 1). Los datos del levantamiento comprendieron desde alturas topogrâficas de hasta 50 metros sobre la superficie del mar, hasta profundidades mâximas de 25 metros por debajo del dâtum de la carta.Tenix LADS Corporation a exécuté un levé LIDAR du passage Harris en mars 2004, pour la MCA (Maritime and Coastguard Agency). Le levé a été effectué à l ’aide du système LADS Mk II. La zone de levé était très complexe, avec de nombreuses îles ainsi que de nombreux hauts fonds et passages étroits (voir Figure 1). Les données des levés vont de hauteurs topographiques atteignant 50 mètres au-dessus de la surface de la mer jusqu’à des profondeurs maximum de 25 mètres au-dessous du niveau de référence des cartes marines

The therapeutic potential of escitalopram in the treatment of panic disorder

Panic disorder is a chronic and disabling condition that is often accompanied by other psychiatric and medical conditions. The serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) have been used effectively with panic disorder (PD) and conditions in which panic attacks frequently occur. Escitalopram is the most selective SSRI and a variety of evidence suggests it is of great value in the treatment of panic disorder. In this paper, we review the theoretical and practical implications of its use

Phylogenetic assessment of filoviruses: how many lineages of Marburg virus?

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.Filoviruses have to date been considered as consisting of one diverse genus (Ebola viruses) and one undifferentiated genus (Marburg virus). We reconsider this idea by means of detailed phylogenetic analyses of sequence data available for the Filoviridae: using coalescent simulations, we ascertain that two Marburg isolates (termed the “RAVN” strain) represent a quite-distinct lineage that should be considered in studies of biogeography and host associations, and may merit recognition at the level of species. In contrast, filovirus isolates recently obtained from bat tissues are not distinct from previously known strains, and should be considered as drawn from the same population. Implications for understanding the transmission geography and host associations of these viruses are discussed.Funded in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R01 TW 8859-3)

Measuring poverty in Britain as a multi-dimensional concept, 1991 to 2003

While poverty is widely accepted to be an inherently multi-dimensional concept, it has proved very difficult to develop measures that both capture this multi-dimensionality and facilitate comparison of trends over time. Structural equation modelling appears to offer a solution to this conundrum and is used to exploit the British Household Panel Study to create a multi-dimensional measure of poverty. The analysis reveals that the decline in poverty in Britain between 1991 and 2003 was driven by falls in material deprivation, but more especially by reduced financial stress, particularly during the early 1990s. The limitations and potential of the new approach are critically discussed. © 2008 Cambridge University Press