Is fuel diversity a false god?
The paper by Devin Hartman, formerly an economic analyst at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and staffer at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, notes that policymakers in electricity “often presume that diversity in electricity supply is inherently beneficial, even a necessity.” Hartman adds, “There is little empirical evidence to support the claimed association between supply diversity and electricity-market performance.” Rather than focusing on diversity, says Hartman, policymakers “should instead support targeted reforms that provide proper incentives for risk management and reliability….”
