Lincoln
Davies and Kirst Allen have just published an excellent article “Feed-in
Tariffs in Turmoil” in the West Virginia Law Review. Anyone interested in
better understanding feed-in tariff schemes should read it.
The comprehensive (38 page) article contains case studies of
three countries that have used feed-in tariffs: Germany ,
Spain and South Korea
The
authors summarize their article as follows:
“Feed-in
tariffs are extremely popular. Ubiquitous in Europe
and across the globe, studies often suggest that feed-in tariffs (“FITs”) tend
to outperform renewable portfolio standards (“RPSs”). The accepted logic is
that this is because FITs offer certainty RPSs do not. Under a feed-in tariff,
renewables producers know that all of their power will be purchased and at what
price, while under an RPS, facilities have a guarantee on neither point.
Feed-in tariffs, however, create a more complex policy ecology than is often
acknowledged. While the FIT’s core advantage is certainty, the laws also
inevitably erode the very stability they initially create. This is because FITs
require recurring adjustment, and the more effective they are, the more
modification they need. The end result is that FITs often foment turmoil, not
stability. This Article challenges conventional thinking about feed-in tariffs,
by showing the tumult they can create. Using three case studies of prominent
feed-in tariffs that either have been abandoned or are surrounded by increasing
debate — Germany’s, Spain’s, and South Korea’s — the Article shows both the
policy turbulence feed-in tariffs can cause and why that matters. It offers a
more nuanced view of FITs than is often offered. In turn, it extracts four key
lessons lawmakers should keep in mind when designing FITs: (1) the laws tend to
be effective, but (2) internal modification of the laws’ design is unavoidable,
(3) feed-in tariffs often impact the legal and physical systems around them in
unforeseen ways, and (4) FITs’ unpredictability must be carefully managed.”
Lincoln
Davies is a professor of law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law of the University of Utah Salt Lake
City , Utah
The
article is a must read for anyone looking more closely into feed-in tariff
systems, or trying to improve them. Comparing and contrasting the regimes in Germany , Spain
and South Korea
Related
posts:
·
2013 German
Election Energy Party Profiles – Part 2: Future of the EEG Surcharge and
Electricity Tax
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