Lynne Kiesling

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3/29/10

Electricity Industry Is Topic For St. Lawrence Speaker

CANTON - Lynne Kiesling, senior lecturer in economics at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, will give a talk titled "The Knowledge Problem, Technology and Regulation in the Electricity Industry," on Thursday, April 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Hepburn Hall at St. Lawrence University. The event, part of the economics department Visiting Speaker Series in Political Economy, is open to the public, free of charge.

Advances in digital communications technology have made rich, vibrant, customer-oriented innovation in electricity markets possible. Examples include appliances and devices that can respond autonomously to changes in electricity prices or electric vehicles that can be programmed to charge and store electricity for the whole house when electricity prices fall below a trigger price set by the owner. Kielsing's talk will explore the ways in which regulatory institutions have failed to adapt so as to make these existing energy- and cost-saving technologies available to consumers.

Kiesling is the author or co-author of many academic journal articles, book chapters and policy studies, most of which analyze electricity policy and market design issues. Her specialization is industrial organization and regulatory policy. She also teaches undergraduate courses in energy economics, environmental economics, and history of economic thought, and writes about economics as the editor/owner at the Web site Knowledge Problem.

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