Economics Faculty

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Browsing Economics Faculty by Author "Brett Dolter"

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    Carbon Pricing Costs for Households and the Progressivity of Revenue Recycling Options in Canada
    (University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress), 2023-03-01) Jennifer Winter; Brett Dolter; G. Kent Fellows
    Canadian federal policy mandates a floor price on greenhouse gas emissions in all provinces and territories or an equivalent quantity instrument. Provinces that implement a system consistent with the federal benchmark maintain control of revenues. Provinces that do not implement a carbon price are subject to a federally administered pricing system, with revenue recycling via lump-sum household rebates. Using rich synthetic household microdata, we quantify the direct and indirect tax burden on households and carbon pricing revenues in each province. We also calculate carbon pricing revenue available to each province. Using these data, we measure the net cost to households and the overall progressivity of carbon pricing under four revenue recycling scenarios: (a) a means-tested sales tax credit increase, (b) a lump-sum dividend, (c) a sales tax rate reduction, and (d) a personal income tax basic exemption increase. We find that the carbon tax is generally progressive even without revenue recycling, the sales tax credit and lump-sum rebate are progressive, the sales tax rate reduction is mostly regressive, and the income tax change is regressive. We also show that Canada’s outputbased pricing system for large emitters helps to mitigate indirect carbon pricing costs with a notable effect in reducing household costs.
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    When the Sun Sets on Net Metering: How the Cancellation of Net Metering Impacted the Potential Adoption of Residential Rooftop Solar Photovoltaics in Regina, Saskatchewan
    (Librello, 2023-08-17) Brett Dolter; Madeleine Seatle; Madeleine McPherson
    Rooftop solar photovoltaics will play a role in decarbonizing electricity generation and meeting global climate goals. Policymakers can benefit from understanding how their policy choices impact rooftop solar PV adoption. We conduct a case study of Regina, Saskatchewan to determine the extent to which solar policy changes in that Canadian province have impacted the relative desirability of rooftop solar PV. We assess financial returns that can be achieved in Regina under three policy scenarios: net metering, net billing, and net billing with a capital incentive. We use GIS analysis to identify suitable roofs in Regina and assess any shading that may occur. We calculate hourly capacity factors for these roofs using solar irradiation data, temperature data, and shading factors. We match the simulated solar output results with hourly load data to simulate over 4 million potential roof-load combinations and calculate NPV and net monthly return for each combination. We conduct a telephone survey of 451 Regina residents to assess willingness to install solar at different levels of financial return and compare these results to our solar simulations. Our results indicate that a move from net metering to net billing reduced financial returns from rooftop solar and lowered solar potential from 129 Gigawatt-hours (GWh) per year to 99 GWh/yr in Regina. The introduction of a capital incentive grant by the federal government has helped increase solar potential upwards to 120 GWh/yr. The capital incentive grant may also help overcome high discount rates by providing a larger upfront benefit to households that install solar.