Energy Policy & Market Analysis Flashcards
7 cards from real CEA practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Energy Policy & Market Analysis flashcards as text
Which demand-side management (DSM) program compensates customers for voluntarily reducing electricity use during grid stress events?
Answer: Demand response program
Demand response programs pay customers to curtail or shift electricity use on short notice, reducing peak load without building additional generation capacity.
A utility integrated resource plan (IRP) is primarily a tool for:
Answer: Long-term planning of least-cost supply and demand resources
An IRP evaluates combinations of supply-side and demand-side resources over a planning horizon to identify the least-cost, reliable portfolio meeting projected load growth.
In electricity markets, 'ancillary services' include all of the following EXCEPT:
Answer: Long-term capacity expansion planning
Ancillary services are real-time grid support products (regulation, reserves, reactive power); long-term capacity expansion planning is a resource adequacy function, not an ancillary service.
The 'duck curve' problem in electricity systems with high solar penetration refers to:
Answer: A midday drop in net load followed by a steep evening ramp as solar output falls
High solar generation depresses net load midday but creates a rapid ramp need in late afternoon as solar output drops and evening demand rises, stressing dispatchable resources.
Which instrument allows a clean energy developer to sell the environmental attributes of renewable generation separately from the electricity itself?
Answer: Renewable energy certificate (REC)
A REC represents the environmental attributes of one megawatt-hour of renewable electricity and can be sold or retired separately from the underlying energy.
In the context of natural gas markets, 'basis differential' refers to:
Answer: The difference between Henry Hub and a regional delivery point price
Basis differential measures the price spread between Henry Hub and a specific regional or local delivery point, reflecting transportation costs and local supply-demand conditions.
When a state adopts a carbon pricing policy that raises in-state electricity costs, but imports cheap carbon-intensive power from neighboring states, this problem is known as:
Answer: Carbon leakage
Carbon leakage occurs when emission reductions in a regulated jurisdiction are offset by increased emissions elsewhere due to economic incentives to move production to unregulated areas.