Center for Energy Competitiveness

Center for Energy Competitiveness Executive Summary:   The stage for action on energy policy is shifting from the federal level to the states.  Significant de-regulation has occurred under President Trump.  The EPA is no longer driving closure of coal-fired power plants, federal lands have been opened for exploration and production of fossil fuels, methane rules have been relaxed, it is getting easier to build pipelines and export facilities, CAFE Standards will likely be red

Industrial size wind power is running into opposition David T. Stevenson, Director, Center for Energy Competitiveness DATE : 8/21/2019    Utility scale wind power projects are facing a number of obstacles.  The extreme cases are in European countries that have been leaders in such projects, but resistance is also growing in the U.S.  Concerns revolve around bird and bat fatalities, noise, health, and visual blight.  Also, on three different occasions federal Production Tax Cr

This memorandum is a discussion about the Certificate of Need (CON) process in the State of Delaware... Please download pdf file to read full report.

RELEASE: CRI - Center for Economic Policy and Analysis RE: Raising the Delaware Minimum Wage DATE:  6/14/19   (image source:  timeequipment.com )   Senate Bill 105 is under review by the Delaware Senate Finance Committee. It would raise the State’s minimum wage from the mandated $9.25 per hour (as of October 1, 2019) to $11.00 per hour as of January 1, 2020. The minimum wage would then increase $1 per year until 2024, and thereafter be subject to a cost of living adjustment.

RELEASE: CRI - Center for Economic Policy and Analysis RE: More trouble ahead for State employees DATE:  6/7/19   According to the Boomershine Consulting Group the long bull market has failed to fix public pensions. The simple truth is that the sums owed to retirees are accelerating faster than assets on hand to pay those future obligations. Liabilities of major U.S. public pensions are up 64% since 2007 while assets are up 30%.   Return on pension fund assets were slowed by

RELEASE: CRI - Center for Economic Policy and Analysis   RE: Eliminate the health care CON in Delaware   DATE:  5/16/19     In 1974, Congress passed the National Health Planning and Resources Development Act, which made certain Federal funding conditional upon states implementation of Certificate of Need (CON) laws. These laws require those who wish to open new healthcare facilities, expand existing facilities, or even purchase new equipment to obtain state regulator permissi

RELEASE: CRI - Center for Economic Policy and Analysis   RE: Jobs and Opportunity in Delaware   DATE:  5/14/19   The Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity publishes a Jobs and Opportunity Index (JOI) for all the states monthly. As of March of this year, Delaware ranks 50 th among the states.   Three factors comprise the JOI:  job outlook, freedom, and prosperity. To identify the reason for Delaware’s last place ranking on the JOI, each factor needs to be examined.  

Earl Jaques Response Dated:  5/12/2019   In his May 5, 2019 opinion column, Rep. Earl Jaques, Chairman of the House Education Committee, solicits support for his Bill to permit districts to modestly increase their rates for operating funds without a referendum.  While well-intentioned, passage of this Bill assumes that a lack of funding is the source of our public school system’s poor performance.  Well, it’s not and, if successful, this Bill will exacerbate the problem.   In

RELEASE: CRI - Center for Economic Policy and Analysis RE: Output Flat DATE: 5/9/19 The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis has released its Gross State Product (GSP) figures by state for the fourth quarter of 2018 and Delaware continues a lackluster performance. In inflation adjusted dollars, GSP measures the total output of each state. Over the past three years, 2015Q4 to 2018Q4, total Delaware GSP has retreated -0.4%. Over the same time period gross output across the nation r