Dave Fehling/StateImpact Texas
There is disagreement over whether higher wholesale prices could raises costs for residential customers
With warnings piling up that Texas could face power blackouts this summer, a consulting group gave its support to the Texas Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) proposal to dramatically increase the cap on the wholesale price of electricity during critical, high demand times. The idea is to make Texas a more profitable electricity market so investors will be willing to fund construction of new power plants.
The Brattle Group report to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) recommends tripling the maximum wholesale price “from the current $3,000 to $9000…but impose this price cap only in extreme scarcity events,” said the report.
Those figures are in keeping with what the PUC has proposed and which the commission’s chairman wants to start phasing in this summer.
But the Brattle Group report had a warning:
“…we urge caution about implementing major changes too quickly or without sufficient analytical support or stakeholder consideration. Complex market design changes will likely take more than a year to implement, and market participants need to be allowed ample time to prepare for the implementation of any changes.”
PUC of Texas
Donna Nelson is Chairman of the Texas PUC
PUC Chairman Donna Nelson said in a statement issued through ERCOT:
“The Brattle Group’s report confirms that we are moving in the right direction. I look forward to reviewing the report fully and discussing next steps with my fellow Commissioners in the coming months.”
Consumer groups, some municipal governments, and some environmental groups counter that higher prices are the last thing Texas needs, pointing out its electricity already costs more than in many of the surrounding states.
The Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club said the price cap proposals will hurt residential users:
“The proposal by PUC to raise the maximum bid from $3,000 up to $9,000 for one megawatt hour could put the squeeze on the average Texan’s wallet, costing a household an additional $480 a year in electricity cost. An independent analysis performed on behalf of ERCOT found that raising the maximum cost of one megawatt to $4,500 would raise overall electricity prices by some $15 per month on the average homeowner’s bill, while PUC’s second proposal to raise the maximum bid to $9,000 by 2015 could raise overall prices by $40 dollars on the average bill.”
In a conference call with reporters Friday afternoon, Sam Newell, Principal of The Brattle Group, downplayed the impact on consumers.
“Going to higher caps may sound like it would cost people a lot of money. (But) it does not necessarily cost people more money than having lower caps,” said Newell.
How could that be?
“If you have higher caps, you expect more investment. More investment means you get into scarcity conditions less often. So you’ll get higher prices less often. If you have a lower cap, you’ll have a little less capacity built and so you’ll run into scarcity conditions and high prices more often,” said Newell.
Newell said the benefit to a higher price and more generating capacity is more reliability; that is, less risk of shortages during high demand, hot days.
But will the higher price cap really spur construction of new power plants? Or are investors skittish after power projects in Texas and elsewhere ran into trouble a decade ago?
“In general, I would say the investors were overzealous then, now they’re just being smart,” said Newell.
“If the market signals are right, plenty will come and build.”
Read the full report here.
Google Shopping: Wanna Play? Gotta Pay - E-Commerce Times
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is nixing its free product search model, opting instead to charge merchants and retailers to appear in Google product search listings.
Currently, retailers can provide information about their products and then add them to the search listings for free, where they are ranked by popularity and price. Under the new model, dubbed "Google Shopping," retailers will be required to pay in order to appear in search results.
Rankings will then be determined by merchant bid price in addition to relevance. The products will appear in Google Shopping boxes, which will feature the paid search results in "sponsored" boxes above the regular search results.
Google Shopping is currently in an experimental phase and will be complete this fall. The search company hopes that maintaining a commercial relationship with retailers will help them keep their product listings up to date. Fresh and accurate search results will lead to a better online shopping experience for consumers and consequently more revenue for merchants, wrote Sameer Samat, vice president of product management for Google Shopping, in a blog post Thursday.
Google didn't respond to our request for additional comment.
Boosting Profits
In addition to creating what Google says will be a better experience for both merchants and shoppers, the new model could also boost Google's profit 
margin.
"Based on our clients' results, we would expect Google Shopping to increase Google's paid click total in the neighborhood of 2 to 5 percent over the long term. That's not a huge percentage, but it would ultimately mean billions more in revenue for Google," Mark Ballard, senior research analyst at Rimm-Kaufman Group, told the E-Commerce Times.
Profit is likely to come without many complaints from retailers, Ballard said.
"The reaction from our retail clients has been more positive than I expected," he said. "While no one is happy about having to pay for traffic that we were previously getting for free, a number of retailers have expressed optimism that the change will help fight price erosion and eliminate low-quality merchants who turn customers off from the entire comparison shopping channel."
The updated business model could even help merchants' bottom lines in addition to Google's, Rob Abdul, an e-commerce consultant, told the E-Commerce Times.
"I'm sure to offsetting the cost of a paid placement with a larger number of click-throughs will balance out the books," he said.
The retailers this move might hurt are the smaller ones, Ron Rule, vice president of e-commerce for Infusion Brands, told the E-Commerce Times. While larger retailers such as Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), Target and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) can already offer competitive pricing and have the budget to boost advertising and search placement, smaller brands that might have lucked out with free Google product search offers could struggle under the new model, he said.
That may not necessarily be bad news for consumers.
"It's the smaller websites, primarily those who carry no inventory and sell through drop-shippers, that will be hurt by the change," he said. "But that's not necessarily a bad thing for buyers -- as it stands, Google shopping is fairly easy to manipulate, and I've often searched for a product and landed on an 'out of stock, consider these instead' page. I suspect a lot of those never even had the product for sale and were simply looking to capitalize on searches for a major brand's name so they could offer a lower-priced alternative."
Keeping It Fair
Google has already faced criticism for its general search rankings, and having retailers pay for a spot in Shopping might raise more eyebrows among regulators, said Ballard. However, the distinction between Google Shopping products and other search results should help Google's side if a legal argument should arise.
"It seems that the federal authorities themselves aren't sure how search engines like Google should be regulated, but one key concern is that paid results be distinguished from the organic or algorithmic results," said Ballard. "This change will probably raise another round of questions about Google, but as long as they clearly label Google Shopping results as sponsored links, as they intend to, I believe they will be in the clear."
Google could also likely argue that under the new model, anyone has the chance to compete, said Abdul.
"I believe this is Google trying to even out the playing field between small and larger online retailers to compete fairly," said Abdul.
Drivers won't benefit from falling oil prices - Citywire.co.uk
The price of oil fell below the $100 a barrel mark on Friday for the first time since last October, but a weaker pound means drivers won’t save a penny at the pumps.
A barrel of Brent crude fell to $98, down from $120 a barrel last month.
The 2p saving drivers should see at the pumps as a result of lower oil prices, however, has been 'knocked out' because the pound has fallen in value by 4% since the middle of May, the AA explained.
'Had the pound remained worth $1.61 instead of around $1.53 now, further falls in the NW Europe wholesale price of petrol (taking it below $1000 a tonne for the first time since January) would have saved drivers a further 2p a litre,' the AA said.
Meanwhile, retailers have also yet to pass on the full 10p a litre saving from previous falls in wholesale prices to drivers.
Drivers have seen a saving of just seven and a half pence per litre at the pumps, Luke Bosdet of the AA explained. So while a weaker pound means they will not benefit from the most recent drop in wholesale prices, they are still owed a two and a half pence saving from the wholesale price falls seen since mid-April.
Yesterday the average price of petrol in the UK stood at 134.92p a litre, down from the record high of 142.8p seen in April. The cost of diesel, meanwhile, has fallen from 147.93p to 140.52p.
Earlier this week, the government warned fuel companies that they were being given 'one last chance' to improve transparency in the market.
Retailers have long been accused of responding to increases in wholesale prices much more quickly than price falls – prices shoot up like a rocket and fall like a feather, said Bosdet.
Transport secretary Justine Greening has now ordered retailers to set up a code of practice that allows drivers to monitor changes in petrol and diesel prices. If they don't, the government has said it will implement legislation.
Retailers claim that the industry does not understand the complex pricing mechanism, said Bosdet. Yet this fall in the price of oil is a perfect example of why greater transparency in the market would benefit suppliers as well as drivers.
On the one hand transparency would show drivers that a quarter of the savings from the original fall in wholesale prices was yet to be reflected at the pump, while on the other retailers and suppliers accused of pocketing the benefits of falling oil prices, would be able to defend themselves as to why a weaker pound means there will be no added savings.
Lexity Announces Support of Google Shopping - YAHOO!
Lexity, the provider of marketing apps for ecommerce, today announced that it supports Google Shopping, planned for introduction in the Fall.
Mountain View, Calif (PRWEB) June 01, 2012
Lexity, a provider of marketing apps for ecommerce, today announced that it supports Google Shopping, planned for introduction this Fall.“The changes to Google Shopping will provide a better user experience that will help our merchants succeed in this evolving world,” said Amit Kumar, CEO of Lexity. “We have already been providing both Google Product Search and Product Listing ads to our small to medium size merchant clients. We welcome the merging of these two separate products into one unified program.”
Lexity enables merchants to deliver superior results from Google advertising while minimizing the time spent managing these campaigns. With Google Shopping, Lexity will automatically manage the bidding for its merchants and provide them with a simple reporting interface, without requiring them to become AdWords experts. Today, Lexity manages Product Listing Ads using a similar fully automated system.
Lexity was one of the early adopters of Google Product APIs and was featured in Google I/O last year.
About Lexity
Lexity offers a versatile suite of marketing apps for ecommerce, enabling simple and affordable online advertising for small and medium-sized businesses. Founded in 2009, Lexity is backed by Spark Capital, True Ventures and Dave McClure’s 500 Startups. Lexity is headquartered in Mountain View, and has a presence in Bangalore, India. For more information, visit lexity.com, Twitter (@lxty), and Facebook (facebook.com/goLexity).
For more media information, contact:
Lisa Hendrickson
516-767-8390
lisapr(at)optonline(dot)net
Amelia Lin
Lexity
650-961-2785
Email Information
UPDATE 2-Brattle report outlines Texas power market options - Reuters UK
* Advises higher price cap, only during extreme conditions
* Sierra Club criticizes push for higher wholesale prices (New throughout, adds Sierra Club, generator comment, details)
HOUSTON, June 1 (Reuters) - The current design of the wholesale power market in Texas will not encourage needed investment in new power plants, the Brattle Group consultancy said in a report commissioned by the state electric grid operator.
Texas electric regulators and the grid agency that oversees the $34 billion deregulated wholesale market are working to encourage construction of new generation in the state, which has little ability to import power from its neighbors.
Unlike many areas of the United States, electric demand in Texas continues to grow because of the state's healthy economy.
"Electric reliability matters to all of us and we must remain focused on the central question of whether we are doing enough to guarantee an adequate power supply," said Craven Crowell, chairman of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
ERCOT, which oversees the grid for most of the state, has warned that the prospect for rolling blackouts in future years will increase as the power supply is unable to keep pace with growing demand.
Low wholesale prices and tight financial markets have stalled development of new generation in Texas even as more stringent environmental rules threaten to shut older coal- and gas-fired plants over the next few years.
Last summer's protracted heat wave, which triggered record electricity demand and six emergency declarations from ERCOT, intensified the need to address the state's shrinking power reserve margin, the cushion needed to avoid blackouts.
Regulators and state lawmakers are expected to use the Brattle Group report to address long-term resource adequacy.
It did not recommend a specific course of action to alter ERCOT's "energy-only" market, which pays generators only when they produce power, but outlined five options along with advantages and disadvantages of each.
Options included keeping the energy-only design, but adding a market-based reserve margin; higher prices to support a target reserve margin; or a back-stop procurement process to maintain minimum acceptable reliability.
Other options included a mandatory resource adequacy requirement for companies that supply power to customers, or a resource-adequacy requirement with a centralized forward capacity market.
While the Texas Public Utility Commission has resisted calls to create a capacity market similar to those used in other U.S. power markets, the Brattle report worked to address a number of criticisms that capacity markets simply boost overall costs but may not attract new power plants.
The PUC and ERCOT have already implemented a number of market changes, including raising the price cap on wholesale power when supplies are scarce, to encourage construction of new power plants.
"The Brattle Group's report confirms that we are moving in the right direction," said Donna Nelson, PUC chairman.
The Brattle Group report advised ERCOT to increase the price cap to $9,000 per megawatt-hour from $3,000 MWh, but only in times of extreme scarcity when power to customers is being curtailed.
It warned that simply increasing scarcity prices will not attract more generation.
"Many market participants that were supportive of the commission's actions so far were wary of the prospect of raising caps much higher," the Brattle Group said.
The Sierra Club criticized the report for failing to look at energy efficiency and conservation options where customers are paid to reduce power use when supplies are strained.
"Instead of using our money to build more coal and gas plants, the PUC should implement their rules proposed to raise energy efficiency goals," said Cyrus Reed, conservation director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Reed also called on the state to increase use of renewable power, such as solar. Texas is already the No. 1 state for wind generation.
The Brattle report said growth of wind power in Texas has depressed wholesale prices to the point that generators cannot justify investment in new gas-fired power plants.
Energy Future Holdings, parent of the Luminant, the state's largest power producer, said the report will help regulators and the industry solve the resource question.
"We join the PUC, ERCOT and the other stakeholders who are reviewing Brattle's input as we all seek to ensure that sufficient electricity resources are available to meet our growing economy in Texas," the company said in a statement. (Reporting by Eileen O'Grady in Houston; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Tim Dobbyn and David Gregorio)
Shopping police illegal parking caught on camera (From Watford Observer) - Watford Observer
Police caught on camera parking on yellow lines for shopping trips in Watford
10:00am Friday 1st June 2012 in News By Mike Wright, Chief Reporter
Police officers in Watford have been caught on camera for the second time in two weeks parking on double yellow lines to go on shopping jaunts to supermarkets.
The town’s force is facing a mounting outcry after officers were snapped on Friday parking up on a pavement in central Watford for a trip to Iceland.
The revelation comes just a week after pictures emerged of police illegally parking in St Albans Road to visit a Tesco Express.
The pictures have been branded “disgraceful” by one former police detective who said the abuses damaged the force’s standing with the public.
Watford’s Chief Inspector Nick Caveney has also come down hard on the practice, saying the officers involved have been reprimanded and prosecuted.
The town’s top policeman also described the two incidents as a “rare lapse” in the behaviour of his committed and dedicated force.
The latest picture taken by a Watford resident who saw officers park their car on the pavement in Albert Road South, a stone’s throw away from Watford Police Station, where there are double yellow lines.
The resident, who asked not to be named, said: “A patrol car pulled up with all four wheels on the pavement, two officers jumped out slammed the door shut and left the engine running, presumably with the keys inside.
“I thought they were going to make an arrest but they strolled over to Iceland to do a bit of shopping.
“They emerged from the shop 10 minutes later with a bag of shopping. I wouldn’t mind but it would be quicker to walk from the police station in Shady Lane than to drive there.”
A retired Metropolitan Police detective, Terry Hymans, who lives in Rickmansworth, said he felt there was no excuse for officers misusing parking privileges.
He also said actions like the ones caught on camera damaged the public’s trust in the police.
“I think it is disgraceful personally,” he said “I don’t think there is any excuse. This is part of the reason people have little regard for police officers today.
“It sends out a signal of don’t do as I do, do as I say. People will naturally assume they (the police) all do it and that is not true.”
The first pictures police parking on yellow lines was first captured by Abbots Langley resident Kevin Brown who submitted them to the Watford Observer last week.
He said he was “amazed” to see an officer park on a double yellow lines on a pavement in St Albans Road before spending seven minutes in Tesco Express and emerging with a shopping bag.
Following the revelations Chief Inspector for Watford, Nick Caveney said he was “shocked and surprised” to see the pictures.
He said: “As police officers, we have a very clear responsibility to operate totally within the law, whether this is when dealing with people we have arrested or while using a public highway in a police vehicle.
We have to set a good example to our communities and these incidents clearly do not. I am glad these have been brought to my attention and have since spoken with the officers concerned to establish the circumstances.
“Had they been responding to an emergency, illegal parking is justified and allowed, but this was not the case.
The officers concerned have been reprimanded for their behaviour and just like any other member of the public, are being prosecuted for their actions.”
“I’m very proud of our team here in Watford who work beyond the call of duty on a daily basis in order to keep our communities safe.
“These incidents are a rare lapse in an otherwise committed, dedicated and upstanding team.”
Comments(17)
TRT says...
10:02am Fri 1 Jun 12
Hornets number 12 fan says...
10:04am Fri 1 Jun 12
Taximan says...
11:07am Fri 1 Jun 12
AWatfordTaxpayer says...
11:34am Fri 1 Jun 12
One of the horses then did his business right there in the middle of the pedestrian walkway, a few yards from the entrance to McDonalds, leaving a load of manure for any lucky gardener passing by, or any unlucky pedestrian going by, if you get my drift.
I asked the rider, a policewoman, what she was going to do about it. She replied it was a job for the council and that she was going to do nothing about it. After chatting a while longer, the riders went on their separate ways, leaving the steaming deposit for the people of Watford to enjoy at their leisure.
As a dog owner, I would be liable to a £1000 fine for leaving a dog poo on the pavement. The police leave something altogether more impressive and just ignored it, and that outside a popular fast food restaurant.
It really is one rule for us, and one for them, isn't it? The policewoman was not embarrassed at all, it was really just a case of "tough luck, shoppers".
I took photos to send to the council, of the horse in the act and the mess left afterwards, but decided not to as I doubted they would care or do anything about it.
I must admit, I was very disappointed in the police for leaving this steaming manure in the middle of the street and doing nothing at all about it. The policewoman just tried to ignore it until I brought it to her attention, whereupon she dismissed it.
Taximan says...
11:47am Fri 1 Jun 12
Reg Edit says...
11:53am Fri 1 Jun 12
Reg Edit says...
11:59am Fri 1 Jun 12
garston tony says...
12:12pm Fri 1 Jun 12
TRT says...
12:25pm Fri 1 Jun 12
garston tony says...
1:05pm Fri 1 Jun 12
LSC says...
1:10pm Fri 1 Jun 12
TRT says...
1:14pm Fri 1 Jun 12
onlyonerodthomas says...
1:22pm Fri 1 Jun 12
Maclanx says...
2:57pm Fri 1 Jun 12
gangerman says...
8:06pm Fri 1 Jun 12
pepsiman says...
9:19pm Fri 1 Jun 12
Reg Edit says...
10:25pm Fri 1 Jun 12
New York takes a dismal FOURTH place in list of best U.S. cities for shopping - and you'll never guess the top three - Daily Mail
|
It is regarded as the fashion capital of the world by many and yet New York has taken a dismal fourth place in a list of America's best cities for shopping.
The news will no doubt come as shock to the thousands of New Yorkers who consider the bustling metropolis to be by far the most sartorially sophisticated city in the country.
But according to a survey conducted by Travel + Leisure magazine, when it comes to a general consumer experience, New Orleans, Santa Fe and Charleston have superior stores.
Not so fashionable now: New York took fourth place in Travel + Leisure's list of best U.S. cities for shopping behind New Orleans, Santa Fe and Charleston
The travel publication asked readers to rate 35 U.S. cities with scores between one and five across categories such as nightlife, culture, people, quality of life and shopping.
The shopping category was divided into subcategories of luxury stores, independent boutiques, antiques markets, flea markets and interior design stores and the results subsequently combined for an overall score.
Bottom of the list was Orlando, Salt Lake City and Anchorage, the latter having also earned itself last place in the Best Dressed stakes.
Though New York took the number one spot in the luxury store sub-division followed by Chicago and Los Angeles, it failed to perform when it came to the other types of retail locale.
Despite the perennially trendy downtown area with its plethora of boutiques jam packed with fashionistas, not to mention Brooklyn's hipster contribution to fashion, in the independent category, New York City came a surprising fourth, beaten even by Savannah, Georgia.
When the New York Daily News revealed the results of the poll to nursing student Josh Belier, he exclaimed: 'New Orleans? Really? I’ve never heard anyone say: "Hey, let’s take a trip to New Orleans to go shopping." Everyone comes to New York to shop.'
Top spot: Readers voted New Orleans the best place overall for eager consumers across a variety of sub-divisions such as luxury, boutique and antique shopping
Perhaps not any more. At least certainly not for antiques and thrift store finds. Regardless of the popularity and abundance of New York's flea markets and second hand furniture stores, the city didn't even feature in the top ten list for either category.
Again the southern cities fared far better with Houston, Texas rounding out the top ten.
And if all those chic Manhattan interiors magazines led you to believe New York was the place to go for home design think again, it came a poor eighth.
The concluding result was that over all New York only closely beat San Juan, Puerto Rico in a top ten list that featured LA, San Francisco and Philadelphia as well.
Student Anthony Colone, 29, who is about to move to New York from Delaware told the Daily News: 'That must be a mistake. That's just stupid. New York City is the shopping capital of the world.'
AMERICA'S BEST SHOPPING CITIES
1. New Orleans, Louisiana
2. Santa Fe, New Mexico
3. Charleston, South Carolina
4. New York City, New York
5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
6. San Juan, Puerto Rico
7. Los Angeles, California
8. Savannah, Georgia
9. San Francisco, California
10. Providence, Rhode Island
AMERICA'S WORST SHOPPING CITIES
1. Anchorage, Alaska
2. Orlando, Florida
3. Salt Lake City, Utah
4. Atlanta, Georgia
5. Dallas/Forth Worth, Texas
6. Las Vegas, Nevada
7. Baltimore, Maryland
8. Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona
9. Washington, D.C.
10. Memphis, Tennessee
Comment now! Register or sign in below.
Or