IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/revpol/v38y2021i1p31-48.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Politics and Corporate‐Sector Environmentally Significant Actions: The Effects of Political Partisanship on U.S. Utilities Energy Efficiency Policies

Author

Listed:
  • Lazarus Adua
  • Brett Clark

Abstract

This study assesses the direct, indirect, and total impacts of political partisanship on state‐level utilities' investment in energy efficiency. This subject is of utmost importance because energy efficiency improvement has become a linchpin in worldwide efforts to combat climate change and other environmental challenges. Analysis of data on 51 electric utilities nested within 31 U.S. states indicates that political partisanship influences utilities' energy efficiency policies. There is strong evidence that electric utilities in states dominated by the Republican Party are less likely to invest in energy efficiency than those in states governed by the Democratic Party. This finding suggests that political partisanship may be shaping the policy and regulatory frameworks put in place by state governments to incentivize or compel the participation of private‐sector entities' in environmental management and/or resource conservation. Este estudio evalúa los impactos directos, indirectos y totales del partidismo político en la inversión de las empresas de servicios públicos a nivel estatal en eficiencia energética. Este tema es de suma importancia porque la mejora de la eficiencia energética se ha convertido en un eje de los esfuerzos mundiales para combatir el cambio climático y otros desafíos ambientales. El análisis de los datos de 51 empresas eléctricas ubicadas en 31 estados de EE. UU. Indica que el partidismo político influye en las políticas de eficiencia energética de las empresas. Existe una fuerte evidencia de que las empresas eléctricas en los estados dominados por el Partido Republicano tienen menos probabilidades de invertir en eficiencia energética que las de los estados gobernados por el Partido Demócrata. Este hallazgo sugiere que el partidismo político puede estar dando forma a los marcos normativos y regulatorios establecidos por los gobiernos estatales para incentivar u obligar la participación de entidades del sector privado en la gestión ambiental y / o conservación de recursos. 本研究评估了政治派别对州级公用事业在能源效率上的投资产生的直接、间接以及全部影响。该主题至关重要，因为能源效率的提升已成为全球为应对气候变化及其他环境挑战所作努力的最重要部分。关于31个州内51个电力事业的数据分析表明，政治派别会影响公用事业的能源效率政策。有力证据表明，相比民主党州，共和党州的电力事业更不可能在能源效率上投资。研究发现暗示，政治派别可能会影响由州政府制定的政策和监管框架，以期激励或强制私人部门实体参与环境管理和/或资源节约。

Suggested Citation

  • Lazarus Adua & Brett Clark, 2021. "Politics and Corporate‐Sector Environmentally Significant Actions: The Effects of Political Partisanship on U.S. Utilities Energy Efficiency Policies," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 38(1), pages 31-48, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:revpol:v:38:y:2021:i:1:p:31-48
    DOI: 10.1111/ropr.12409
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12409
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ropr.12409?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huang, Ming-Yuan & Alavalapati, Janaki R.R. & Carter, Douglas R. & Langholtz, Matthew H., 2007. "Is the choice of renewable portfolio standards random?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5571-5575, November.
    2. Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo & J. S. Butler & John Poe & Whitney Davis, 2016. "The Spreading of Innovation: State Adoptions of Energy and Climate Change Policy," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 33(5), pages 544-565, September.
    3. Coley, Jonathan S. & Hess, David J., 2012. "Green energy laws and Republican legislators in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 576-583.
    4. Thomas P. Lyon & Haitao Yin, 2010. "Why Do States Adopt Renewable Portfolio Standards?: An Empirical Investigation," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3), pages 133-158.
    5. Sanya Carley, 2011. "The Era of State Energy Policy Innovation: A Review of Policy Instruments," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 28(3), pages 265-294, May.
    6. Robert Brulle, 2014. "Institutionalizing delay: foundation funding and the creation of U.S. climate change counter-movement organizations," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 122(4), pages 681-694, February.
    7. Worrell, Ernst & Laitner, John A & Ruth, Michael & Finman, Hodayah, 2003. "Productivity benefits of industrial energy efficiency measures," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 28(11), pages 1081-1098.
    8. Geller, Howard & Harrington, Philip & Rosenfeld, Arthur H. & Tanishima, Satoshi & Unander, Fridtjof, 2006. "Polices for increasing energy efficiency: Thirty years of experience in OECD countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 556-573, March.
    9. Chandler, Jess, 2009. "Trendy solutions: Why do states adopt Sustainable Energy Portfolio Standards?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3274-3281, August.
    10. Taekyoung Lim & William M. Bowen, 2018. "Determinants and Evaluation of Local Energy†Efficiency Initiatives from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 35(2), pages 238-257, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Antunes, Jorge Junio Moreira & Neves, Juliana Campos & Elmor, Larissa Rosa Carneiro & Araujo, Michel Fontaine Reis De & Wanke, Peter Fernandes & Tan, Yong, 2023. "A new perspective on the U.S. energy efficiency: The political context," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 186(PA).
    2. Castelló-Sirvent, Fernando & García-García, Juan Manuel, 2022. "Exploring the language heterogeneity strategies of European think tanks," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sojin Jang & Hongtao Yi, 2022. "Organized elite power and clean energy: A study of negative policy experimentations with renewable portfolio standards," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 39(1), pages 8-31, January.
    2. Côme Billard & Anna Creti & Antoine Mandel, 2020. "How Environmental Policies Spread? A Network Approach to Diffusion in the U.S," Working Papers 2020.12, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    3. Derek Glasgow & Shuang Zhao & Saatvika Rai, 2021. "Rethinking Climate Change Leadership: An Analysis of the Ambitiousness of State GHG Targets," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 38(4), pages 398-426, July.
    4. Bae, Hyunhoe & Yu, Sanguk, 2018. "Information and coercive regulation: The impact of fuel mix information disclosure on states’ adoption of renewable energy policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 151-159.
    5. Lee, Nathan R., 2020. "When competition plays clean: How electricity market liberalization facilitated state-level climate policies in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    6. Upton, Gregory B. & Snyder, Brian F., 2015. "Renewable energy potential and adoption of renewable portfolio standards," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 67-70.
    7. Yi, Hongtao, 2015. "Clean-energy policies and electricity sector carbon emissions in the U.S. states," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 19-29.
    8. Pritchard, Zachary D. & Mills, Sarah, 2021. "Renewable energy requirements on the ballot: An analysis of county-level voting results," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(PA).
    9. Armstrong, John H., 2019. "Modeling effective local government climate policies that exceed state targets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 15-26.
    10. Jenner, Steffen & Groba, Felix & Indvik, Joe, 2013. "Assessing the strength and effectiveness of renewable electricity feed-in tariffs in European Union countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 385-401.
    11. Lim, Taekyoung & Guzman, Tatyana S. & Bowen, William M., 2020. "Rhetoric and Reality: Jobs and the Energy Provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    12. Don Fullerton & Chi L. Ta, 2022. "What Determines Effectiveness of Renewable Energy Standards? General Equilibrium Analytical Model and Empirical Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 9565, CESifo.
    13. Cheng, Quan & Yi, Hongtao, 2017. "Complementarity and substitutability: A review of state level renewable energy policy instrument interactions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 683-691.
    14. Lee, Sang Ho & Choi, Daewoung Joey & Han, Seung Hun, 2023. "Corporate cash holdings in response to climate risk and policies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PA).
    15. Steffen Jenner, Gabriel Chan, Rolf Frankenberger, and Mathias Gabel, 2012. "What Drives States to Support Renewable Energy?," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    16. Nathan R. Lee & Dominik Stecula, 2021. "Subnational bipartisanship on climate change: evidence from surveys of local and state policymakers," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 1-12, January.
    17. Bespalova, Olga Gennadyevna, 2011. "Bespalova, Olga Gennadyevna (2011): Renewable portfolio standards in the USA: experience and compliance with targets. Published in: K-State Electronic Theses, Dissertations, and Reports No. May 2011 (," MPRA Paper 117672, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 22 Apr 2011.
    18. Schelly, Chelsea, 2014. "Implementing renewable energy portfolio standards: The good, the bad, and the ugly in a two state comparison," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 543-551.
    19. Baldwin, Elizabeth & Carley, Sanya & Nicholson-Crotty, Sean, 2019. "Why do countries emulate each others’ policies? A global study of renewable energy policy diffusion," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 29-45.
    20. Evan M. Mistur & John Wagner Givens & Daniel C. Matisoff, 2023. "Contagious COVID‐19 policies: Policy diffusion during times of crisis," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 40(1), pages 36-62, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:revpol:v:38:y:2021:i:1:p:31-48. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ipsonea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.