Analysing long-term interactions between demand response and different electricity markets using a stochastic market equilibrium model. ESRI WP585, February 2018

Power systems based on renewable energy sources (RES) are characterised by increasingly distributed, volatile and uncertain supply leading to growing requirements for flexibility. In this paper, we explore the role of demand response (DR) as a source of flexibility that is considered to become increasingly important in future. The majority of research in this context has focussed on the operation of power systems in energy only markets, mostly using deterministic optimisation models. In contrast, we explore the impact of DR on generator investments and profits from different markets, on costs for different consumers from different markets, and on CO2 emissions under consideration of the uncertainties associated with the RES generation. We also analyse the effect of the presence of a feed-in premium (FIP) for RES generation on these impacts. We therefore develop a novel stochastic mixed complementarity model in this paper that considers both operational and investment decisions, that considers interactions between an energy market, a capacity market and a feed-in premium and that takes into account the stochasticity of electricity generation by RES. We use a Benders decomposition algorithm to reduce the computational expenses of the model and apply the model to a case study based on the future Irish power system. We find that DR particularly increases renewable generator profits. While DR may reduce consumer costs from the energy market, these savings may be (over)compensated by increasing costs from the capacity market and the feed-in premium. This result highlights the importance of considering such interactions between different markets

Recommendations for Improving Firearms Vetting in Massachusetts

The United States is in a state of conflict over the ability to obtain firearms as well as their use in highly publicized mass shootings. On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza obtained several firearms that were lawfully owned by his mother, but were improperly secured. Lanza killed his mother that morning and then drove a short distance to the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut where he murdered twenty-six people, many of whom were small children. Lanza eventually turned a gun on himself before being confronted by responding officers. Though mass shootings are often headlines in this country, the vast majority of misused firearms by the mentally ill are tragically used in suicide. The lessons of these examples must be used to augment current firearms policy in an effort to reduce the availability of firearms to those suffering with afflictions that make them ill equipped to have access to them. Though the Commonwealth of Massachusetts asks pointed questions in these areas regarding the fitness of the potential license holder, it collects no data whatsoever regarding other full-time household members where a firearm may be kept, nor what measures the licensee takes to ensure its security. This Article illustrates a policy, grounded in facilitative principles, designed to reduce access to firearms by those mentally incapable of handling them or those with current substance addictions. Key components to the solution’s success should rely on increased vetting of the licensee’s environment and where lawfully owned firearms will be stored, in combination with assessing the risk factors of having been hospitalized for mental health, drug dependence, or alcohol dependence. This recommendation is merely an expansion of questions already used in the current Massachusetts firearms licensing application and would produce additional factors that a licensing official may consider when determining the suitability of an applicant. It is important to note that this would not be an outright prohibition for a licensee, which would likely be constitutionally impermissible. This Article concludes by reemphasizing the importance of giving licensing officials more information to consider in an effort to lower the risk of lawfully owned firearms ending up in the hands of the mentally ill or violent

A Survey of Game-theoretic Models in Natural Disaster and Terrorism Research

A Survey of Game-theoretic Models in Natural Disaster and Terrorism Research Research for countering natural disasters and acts of terrorism is of vital interest due to the devastating effects and losses caused by their occurrence, including economic deficiency, casualties, and infrastructure damage. In recent years following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and the large breadth of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina in 2005, we observe a growing use of game-theoretical models in the research concerning the prevention of, defense against, and relief from both natural disasters and terrorism. Notable research in these areas has studied attacker-defender games and multi-agency collaboration, among others, to provide insights to optimal decisions concerning defensive investment and private-public partnerships in the face of disaster occurrence. We survey and integrate about fifty recent academic papers to present an informative summary of game theory-based research in the fields of natural disaster and terrorism. This study aims to increase the comprehension of game theory-based research in the prevention and relief of natural disasters and terrorism, and to provide directions for future research. In addition to academia, the targeted audience of this research includes governments, private sectors, private citizens, and others who are concerned with or involved in disaster management. Keywords: game theory, natural disaster, terrorism, game model, disaster managemen

Curt Flood and the Show Me Spirit

My dad loved the law and baseball. He also loved to combine the two. His first love was baseball. He grew up in New Jersey and quickly became a Brooklyn Dodgers fan after attending numerous games with his father, Dick. He was heartbroken when his beloved Bums left Brooklyn for Los Angeles when he was 10 years old. I don\u27t think he ever got over the loss.\u27 However, he did find some comfort in his loss with the formation of the New York Mets, which promptly became his new favorite baseball team. He shared his passion for the Mets with his mother, Lucy, until his death on May 12, 2010

The Standard Pollution Exclusion Clause in Commercial General Liability Insurance Policies Bars Coverage for Personal Injuries Resulting from On-Site Exposure to Pollutants Discharged within a Construction Envelope: \u3cem\u3eMadison Construction Co. v. Harleysville Mutual Insurance Co.\u3c/em\u3e

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the standard pollution exclusion clause in commercial general liability policies, which bars coverage for the discharge of pollutants, is clear and unambiguous on its face, thereby requiring application of the clause\u27s plain and ordinary meaning to bar coverage for personal injuries caused by exposure to fumes discharged by a useful product within a construction envelope. Madison Construction Co. v. Harleysville Mutual Insurance Co., 735 A.2d 100 (Pa. 1999)

The Sago Grain Vesicle: History, Aetiology and Histopathology

Abstract Not Provided

Principal and Income Allocation of Stock Distributions--The Six Per Cent Rule

A productive trust is usually dynamic in two ways: the principal assets appreciate in value, and their use produces income. When the beneficial interests in such a trust are successively divided between income recipients and principal remaindermen, every payment to the trust must be characterized either as income or as an addition to principal. The most difficult categorization problems arise when the receipt is of corporate stock