Eliciting Public Support for Greening the Electricity Mix Using Random Parameter Techniques

Arbeitspapier

With its commitment to double the share of renewable fuels in electricity generation to at least 30% by 2020, the German government has embarked on a potentially costly policy course whose public support remains an open empirical question. Building on household survey data, in this paper we trace peoples' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for various fuel mixes in electricity generation, and capture preference heterogeneity among respondents using random parameter techniques. Based on our estimates, we trace out the locus that links the premia charged for specific electricity mixes with the fraction of people supporting the policy. Albeit people's WTP for a certain fuel mix in electricity generation is positively correlated to the renewable fuel share, our results imply that the current surcharge effectively exhausts the financial scope for subsidizing renewable fuels.

Object Details

• ISBN: 978-3-86788-265-1
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Ruhr Economic Papers ; No. 233

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Single Equation Models; Single Variables: Panel Data Models; Spatio-temporal Models ; Taxation and Subsidies: Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies ; Energy: Government Policy
• Subject: green electricity ; willingness-to-pay ; preference heterogeneity ; policy evaluation

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Grösche, Peter ; Schröder, Carsten
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI)
• (where): Essen
• (when): 2010

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/45322
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET