Partisanship and the Environmental Policy Decisions of Public Utility Commissions and Implications for Climate Change

Public utility commissions (PUCs) are critical political institutions in all 50 states responsible for regulating public services, affecting the provision, cost, and sources of electrical power. Given their influence over state energy policies, PUCs could play a significant role in stemming climate change. It is expected that partisanship may be a primary driver of PUC environmental policy decisions similar to other political institutions. I assemble expansive original data on the partisan and professional compositions of the PUCs in all 50 states from 2000 to 2020, and code the environmental implications of a large volume of final policy decisions in a smaller sample of states. It is found that Democratic PUCs issue more pro-environmental orders than Republican commissions. The partisan control and policy decisions of PUCs are then related to downstream indicators relevant to climate change. There are no expected effects of additional pro-environmental decisions on energy generation sources, energy efficiency, or harmful air emissions from the electrical power sector. Improved measurement of PUC policies, data from additional states, and a greater consideration of the interactions between PUCs and state legislatures should yield better understanding of the role that PUCs play in addressing climate change.

Author

• Heern, Jared

Language

• en

Keyword

• Climate Change
• Energy Policy
• Environmental Politics
• Public Utility Commissions
• American Politics
• Partisanship

Date created

• 2022

Type of Work

• Dissertation

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Political Science

Degree

• Ph.D.

Advisor

• Binder, Sarah A

Committee Member(s)

• Warshaw, Christopher S
• Lawrence, Eric D

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/v118rf335