Catie Hausman - University of Michigan
The Non-Abatement of Methane Leaks
Date: 09/08/2016 (Thu)
Time: 3:15pm- 4:45pm
Location: Seminar will be held on-site: Building 09 - 137, RTI International
Organizer: Steven Sexton
Meeting Schedule: Login or email the organizer to schedule a meeting.
All meetings will be held in the same location as the seminar unless otherwise noted.
- WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
3:15pm - Seminar Presentation (3:15pm to 4:45pm)
4:30pm - Marc Jeuland (RH 188)
- THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
9:00am - Brian Murray
11:30am - Billy Pizer (RH 190)
3:15pm - SEMINAR: BUILDING 09-137 RTI INTERNATIONAL
Additional Comments: We provide a novel approach to estimate how much money natural gas utilities spend to abate product leaks. We show that firms exert less effort than what is theoretically optimal for a typical private firm; expenditure on abatement is below the cost of lost gas. This is consistent with the fact that many of these price-regulated natural monopolies are allowed to pass the cost of lost gas on to their customers. Importantly, natural gas, primarily composed of methane, is both explosive and a potent greenhouse gas. As such, abatement incentives are far lower than safety and climate costs warrant.