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This research aims to optimize and compare the annual costs of energy services in buildings with critical loads and analyze case studies for hospitals and higher education institutions in the United States. Besides electricity and natural gas costs, the study considers all the infrastructure costs of capital amortization and maintenance. In addition, it studies energy resilience improvement due to distributed generation, including solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, internal combustion engine, and fuel cell sources. The optimization considers the electrical consumption, the heating and cooling demands, and the operational strategy of the energy storage systems. To simulate real scenarios, energy tariffs were modeled and considered, and final optimization results were produced. Some of the microgrid load was considered critical to model resilience benefits. The results show that if favorable energy tariffs are applied, the benefits of increasing energy resilience represent a novel market with high potential in facilities with significant critical loads. This methodology can be used in similar scenarios, adapting each particular load profile and critical load to provide a combined optimal solution regarding resilience and economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to optimize and compare the annual costs of energy services in buildings with critical loads and analyze case studies for hospitals and higher education institutions in the United States. Besides electricity and natural gas costs, the study considers all the infrastructure costs of capital amortization and maintenance. In addition, it studies energy resilience improvement due to distributed generation, including solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, internal combustion engine, and fuel cell sources. The optimization considers the electrical consumption, the heating and cooling demands, and the operational strategy of the energy storage systems. To simulate real scenarios, energy tariffs were modeled and considered, and final optimization results were produced. Some of the microgrid load was considered critical to model resilience benefits. The results show that if favorable energy tariffs are applied, the benefits of increasing energy resilience represent a novel market with high potential in facilities with significant critical loads. This methodology can be used in similar scenarios, adapting each particular load profile and critical load to provide a combined optimal solution regarding resilience and economic benefits.

The harmonics and reactive power have severe consequences on the power electronics-enabled distribution networks. Imposing a penalty to a consumer for violation of limits and providing an incentive for utility-related problems promote good practices. Therefore, we need to reframe the prevailing tariff structure to improve the power quality (PQ) of the low voltage (LV) distribution networks. Nevertheless, there is no unique standard tariff structure in practice for the PQ regulation. This paper presents a penalty/incentive-based tariff scheme for LV consumers to regulate their reactive power and harmonic injection within limits. The pricing is arrived at, considering the techno-economic aspects of excessive reactive power consumption and harmonic pollution. Unlike empirical approaches in the literature, the pricing scheme is more realistic owing to real-world factors like energy losses in the line due to reactive and harmonic current, capital investment on the capacitor bank, and active harmonic filter. The proposed penalty/incentive scheme is validated on an LV radial distribution network with diverse loading conditions. From the results, the proposed tariff scheme is found to be more comprehensive, realistic, and regulatory as it appropriately penalizes/incentivizes both single-phase and three-phase consumers according to their reactive and harmonic profile, with a time resolution suitable for capturing consumer and grid PQ phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the differences in the price for water supply for the Spanish households according to the type of household and the region of residence, which is of great relevance in terms of equity. The analysis covers the entire Spanish territory with the aim of establishing comparisons between regions, determining the current situation of the various household types and highlighting some considerations on the water policy financing. The evidence obtained shows how the invoice has an unequal impact on the various types of household, as well as that there are large differences between territories. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the differences are greater as household income decreases, thus affecting households with tighter budgets or more members. For this reason, modifying the water price policy with the objective of inducing equality and efficiency, in addition to pursuing cost recovery, would be convenient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water sector in India has undergone several institutional and structural reforms through different policies and legislation changes over the past decades to address the water scarcity challenges. This study presents and analyses various water utility policies chronologically emphasising persuasive conservation and use efficiency approach towards their implementation. A review of existing policies indicated that most of them have been only partially effective in implementing efficient water management due to the lack of a need-specific institutional framework, further deepening the water crisis. Moreover, the Indian water sector has been identified to concentrate majorly on water resource management, while overlooking sustainable aspects like water use efficiency through water metering. This study performed an 'indicator-based analysis', applying the framework of bounded rationality coupled with a 'cause-effect' model to recognise the effect of 12 significant water supply policies executed since independence. While initial policies focused on coverage and supply of adequate, safe, and improved drinking water majorly to rural sectors, the water sector gained holistic importance during the post-1990s considering aspects of the water source, supply frequency, water tariffing, etc. However, the gap coherence analysis illustrated that the concept of 'water metering' has not been distinctly considered in these policies. The findings from this study indicate a need for a discrete water metering policy, an equitable, universal, and cost-reflective tariff structuring, and the formulation of an institutional metering framework involving codes, testing laboratories, water metering standard associations. The above offers an alternate approach to the existing policy and a feasible solution to the water crisis in India. Internalising the advantages of metering in policy agenda may unlock the possibilities of success of the forthcoming policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The renewable energy transition has introduced new electricity tariff structures. With the increased penetration of photovoltaic and wind power systems, users are being charged more for their peak demand. Consequently, peak shaving has gained attention in recent years. In this paper, we investigated the potential of peak shaving through battery storage. The analyzed system comprises a battery, a load and the grid but no renewable energy sources. The study is based on 40 load profiles of low-voltage users, located in Belgium, for the period 1 January 2014, 00:00−31 December 2016, 23:45, at 15 min resolution, with peak demand pricing. For each user, we studied the peak load reduction achievable by batteries of varying energy capacities (kWh), ranging from 0.1 to 10 times the mean power (kW). The results show that for 75% of the users, the peak reduction stays below 44% when the battery capacity is 10 times the mean power. Furthermore, for 75% of the users the battery remains idle for at least 80% of the time; consequently, the battery could possibly provide other services as well if the peak occurrence is sufficiently predictable. From an economic perspective, peak shaving looks interesting for capacity invoiced end users in Belgium, under the current battery capex and electricity prices (without Time-of-Use (ToU) dependency).

Abstract This study examines economic viability of combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) systems when applied to the Department of Energy (DOE) reference large office building in three locales in the U.S.: San Francisco, Boston, and Miami. For realistic power generation unit (PGU) sizes, annual, monthly, and hourly operation costs are estimated using local utility tariffs and compared to those of conventional separate heat and power systems. The results show that compared to conventional systems, CCHP systems reduce operation cost by 0.11–0.42 million $/y in San Francisco and Boston, whereas they increase the cost by 0.16–0.29 million $/y in Miami. The cost savings are mainly attributed to electricity savings; therefore, be maintained unless electricity costs drastically decrease. Considerable cost savings are attributed to both energy and demand charges if tariff structures estimate demand charges as much as energy charges (e.g., San Francisco). Under time-of-use rates, the largest cost saving occurs during peak periods because of high utilization of PGUs that significantly reduces energy and demand charges. Although a larger PGU capacity yields a greater cost saving, an over-sized PGU decrease profitability. The results suggest that for regions with relatively expensive natural gas and low electricity cost, CCHP systems would not be profitable. Highlights • We examine economic performances of CCHP systems for large office buildings. • CCHP operation costs greatly differ with realistic tariffs and simplified tariffs. • CCHP systems yield notable cost savings in cooling months and peak demand periods. • CCHP systems are unprofitable with expensive natural gas and low-cost electricity. • An over-sized CCHP system leads to part-load operations and low profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water supply and sanitation (WASH) service providers in most towns of developing countries, such as Godey Town in Ethiopia, the case study reported in this paper, deliver less than basic services. The costs for meeting the more ambitious WASH targets of the Sustainable Development Goals will be much higher than what has previously been invested in the sector. This study showed that a tariff structure designed using affordability and willingness-to-pay data would provide higher revenues than one solely based on estimated customers' affordability, or Ethiopian government's tariff guidelines. As in previous studies in Ethiopia, this study highlights government's low willingness-to-charge amidst a high customers' willingness-to-pay. Yet, there is need to increase water tariffs in developing countries, hence, moving towards financial sustainability and supplementing the other two Ts – taxes and transfers. Based on accurate and updated socio-economic data, the tariff can also be optimised to fulfil the social equity objective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reduction of environmental impacts of electricity use and the transition to renewable power generation crucially depend on demand response (DR). This article takes the political commitment to DR as a starting point and empirically examines Finnish stakeholders’ views on barriers to the utilization of DR and the ways in which these barriers could be overcome. The analysis is based on surveys of Finnish electricity retailers and distribution system operators (DSOs), a survey of a wider range of energy specialists, and a follow-up workshop of the latter survey. According to the participants, the main barriers are related to customer engagement and DR automation. Thus, the proposed solutions focused largely on end-user incentives and obligations as well as technical issues. Especially the latter topic would benefit from regulative measures such as standardization of appliance interfaces, whereas changes in electricity tariff structures may take place either through normative changes by the retailers and DSOs or through regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the effect of tariff reforms on market access from the Doha Round until the Great Recession. Gravity estimates yield significant effects of the variation in tariff structure. The change in the Mercantilist Trade Restrictiveness Index reveals that the change in tariff dispersion reflects a restrictive selection counteracting the effect of average tariff reductions. Restrictiveness is concentrated in East Asia and Pacific while, in Latin America and Caribbean, selection is expansive. We illustrate reforms in China, finding strong restrictive selection. Simulations highlight reforms with unchanged dispersion for their larger improvement in market access and a simultaneous improvement in welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive framework for conducting economic analysis of a residential house along with the integration of solar photovoltaic (PV) units and battery energy storage systems (BESSs). The proposed framework is developed by considering different tariff structures of the existing energy market as well as the investment costs for the solar PV units and BESSs. In this paper, the economic evaluations are carried out based on different economic measures such as replacement cost, electricity bill, simple payback analysis, net present value, discounted payback analysis, and levelized cost of energy along with the reduction in carbon di-oxide (CO 2 ) emissions and grid independency. The proposed framework is implemented on an Australian residential building by considering different real-time operating scenarios. The results from the analysis demonstrate the profitability of a residential building for the investment on solar PV units and BESSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As financing mental health care is becoming more challenging, governments are progressively introducing new remuneration systems. At the beginning of 2018, Switzerland introduced TARPSY, a new tariff system based on diagnosis-related psychiatric cost groups that takes into consideration ratings of severity and complexity. TARPSY is expected to provide incentives for medically and economically meaningful treatment, increase transparency, and improve the quality of the provided services by triggering competition between hospitals. Yet some fear that TARPSY will lead to an economization of mental health, encouraging a reduction in length of stay and medically indicated treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many European countries, there has been a shift towards outpatient psychiatric care over the past decades, as it is more cost-effective and resources for health care are limited. Switzerland, however, still has a high number of inpatient psychiatric hospital beds and a comparatively high length of stay. The existence of differing remuneration systems between inpatient and outpatient settings creates a distortion of incentives regarding the choice of treatment setting and an inefficient allocation of resources. To address this issue, a new tariff structure for day care treatment is suggested, based on the development and evaluation of the DRG-based inpatient remuneration system tariff psychiatry (TARPSY), using inpatient data from 2018, 2019, and 2021. The method involves three steps: estimating the day care treatment setting potential by delimiting cases from the inpatient patient data, adjusting the costs of this subset to approximate a day care treatment setting, and calculating daily cost weights based on the existing cost weights. The resulting reimbursements are about half of the inpatient reimbursements. To implement the tariff structure, this paper suggests that a number of framework conditions and regulations must be defined or modified. Additionally, subsequent cost data surveys from the day care setting can be incorporated into the calculation as part of a learning system. The remuneration system outlined in this paper could potentially be applied for day care psychiatry in other countries with DRG systems, especially in countries with conflicting remuneration systems in the inpatient and out patient sector., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

In Portugal, in the early twenty first century, the water utilities industry was still quite complex displaying considerable financial shortcomings. That issue occurred, mainly, at the retail level due to faulty rate setting practices, stressing, perhaps, arbitrariness and political influence in price-setting strategies. To cope with that situation, the water sector regulator published tariff guidelines to harmonize cost analyses, tariff structures and levels, creating a basis for comparison. The suggestion of two-part tariffs with increasing block rates seems to lack enough flexibility and proper supporting material. Thus, our analysis focuses on assessing whether the recommendations issued are able to achieve the proposed objectives through the suggested procedures, reviewing the structure proposed and possible adjustments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to evaluate the consumer response to a reduction in the electricity tariffs as a hourly economic signal for the case of an electric utility in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. Using Differences-in-differences method, the results were robust in showing that the change in the economic signal increased up to 81.01% the consumption at the time influenced by the change, improving the way in which the company's assets are used, in addition to reducing fuel oil consumption by users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to provide information on the changes in electricity consumption and costs on dairy farms, through the simulation of various electricity tariffs that may exist in the future and how these tariffs interact with changes in farm management (i.e. shifting the milking operation to an earlier or later time of the day). A previously developed model capable of simulating electricity consumption and costs on dairy farms (MECD) was used to simulate five different electricity tariffs (Flat, Day&Night, Time of Use Tariff 1 (TOU1), TOU2 and Real Time Pricing (RTP)) on three representative Irish dairy farms: a small farm (SF), a medium farm (MF) and a large farm (LF). The Flat tariff consisted of one electricity price for all time periods, the Day&Night tariff consisted of two electricity prices, a high rate from 09:00 to 00:00 h and a low rate thereafter. The TOU tariff structure was similar to that of the Day&Night tariff except that a peak price band was introduced between 17:00 and 19:00 h. The RTP tariff varied dynamically according to the electricity demand on the national grid. The model used in these simulations was a mechanistic mathematical representation of the electricity consumption that simulated farm equipment under the following headings; milk cooling system, water heating system, milking machine system, lighting systems, water pump systems and the winter housing facilities. The effect of milking start time was simulated to determine the effect on electricity consumption and costs at farm level. The earliest AM milking start time and the latest PM milking start time resulted in the lowest energy consumption. The difference between the lowest and highest electricity consumption within a farm was 7% for SF, 5% for MF and 5% for LF. This difference was accounted for by the variation in the milk cooling system coefficient of performance. The greatest scope to reduce total annual electricity costs by adjusting milking start times was on TOU2 (39%, 34% and 33% of total annual electricity costs on the SF, MF and LF) and the least scope for reductions using this method was on the Flat tariff (7%, 5% and 7% of total annual electricity costs). The potential for reduction of annual electricity consumption and related costs per litre of milk produced by adjusting milking times was higher for the LF than the SF or MF across all electricity tariffs. It is anticipated that these results and the use of the MECD will help support the decision-making process at farm level around increasing energy efficiency and electricity cost forecasts in future electricity pricing tariff structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] We compare few district cooling schemes to minimize the overall electricity charges. [•] We show that local tariff structures play an important role on the total energy (electrical) cost in a district building. [•] Only marginally saving can be achieved due to the local tariff conditions and low ΔT. [•] Energy saving in the range of 0.08–3.13% if a new tariff is adopted. [•] A total of further saving of 1.26–2.43% if ITS is operated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research in marketing and psychology suggests that pricing structure may influence consumers' perception of value. In the context of two commonly used pricing schemes, pay-per-use and two-part tariff, we evaluate the impact of pricing structure on consumer preferences for access services. To this end, we develop a utility-based model of consumer retention and usage of a new service. A notable feature of the model is its ability to capture the pricing structure effect and measure its impact on consumer retention, usage, and pricing policy. Using data from a pricing field experiment for a new telecommunication service, we find that consumers derive lower utility from consumption under a two-part tariff than pay-per-use pricing, resulting in lower retention of customers and lower usage of the service. Specifically, our demand analysis shows that a two-part tariff structure leads to an average decline of 10.5% in the annual retention rate and an average decrease of 38.7% in yearly usage relative to pay-per-use pricing after controlling for income effects. Despite the higher customer churn and lower usage, we find that the two-part tariff is still the profit-maximizing pricing structure. However, our results show that if firms ignore the pricing structure (or access fee) effect, then they would overcharge customers for the access fee and undercharge them for the per-minute price. Translated in terms of profitability, the failure to account for the access fee effect leads to a reduction of 11% in firm profit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has witnessed a substantial increase in imported intermediate goods in recent years. To a great extent, this can be attributed to China's tariff policies. We explore the impact of tariff reductions on intermediate products, the implementation of a ladder-shaped, cascading tariff structure, and China's policy of encouraging processing trade. Our analysis suggests that China's tariff policies affect her export ability, the scale of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study reviews the approach to trade policy in early development research and evolution of thoughts integrating the economic and structural reforms in transitional economies. The discussion in the paper is focused in reference to the member countries of Central and Eastern European countries, emerging Asian countries, Mercosur and prospecting countries of Latin America to join the trade bloc. The aspects of trade and growth and problems of Balance of Payments and their relation with macroeconomic policy have also been discussed in the study. Further, this study analyzes economic integration between two economies--one central, with a large local market, and the other peripheral, with a small local market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peru experienced radical economic policy changes during the first half of the decade of 1990. An analysis of these new economic policies, specially those related to foreign trade are presented in this article. Between 1990 and 1994, the Peruvian government eliminated price controls and exchange rate restrictions; measures were given to promote national and foreign private investment; state monopolies to import goods were suppressed; import prohibitions were phased out; most import tariffs were drastically reduced; a much more uniform tariff structure was imposed, and export subsidies were eliminated. Local import substituting activities that used to be highly protected before the reform were forced to adapt to the new open market conditions, with smaller effective rates of protection. Many of them closed down business, but others were able to stabilize and continued growing, although they had to invest in new equipment and had to reduce their sale prices in the internal market, which benefited consumers. Overall, total GDP as well as manufacturing GDP both grew up during the period. There was not any industrial collapse that some analysts predicted to happen. Employment level in the manufacturing sector contracted, but labor productivity picked up. Imports increased faster than exports, thus generating serious balance of trade deficits that were financed by capital inflows. Trade openness did no eliminate the prevailing anti export bias, but this bias certainly was reduced, and a basis for the future development of new exporting sectors was established. Initially, tariff reduction caused fiscal revenue losses, but they were compensated later on by the increase in import volumes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of the dairy products imported by the United States are intermediate products used in food processing. As such, they are demanded for their components such as milk fat and protein. The implications of the U.S. tariff structure for import demand must be viewed in terms of the tariffs' effects upon the relative prices of imported milk components. In this article we examine the implications of the current tariff structure and proposed changes under the Doha Round of international trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization. We show that implicit ad valorem equivalent tariffs (AVEs) on components vary substantially under the current tariff schedule. Proposed changes under the Doha Round would lead to not only a reduction in the level of implied tariffs on components, but also a reduction in dispersion. This would help to reduce the possibility of distortions due to significant differences in component prices across intermediate dairy products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]