Environmental Economics

Non-Proprietary Modeling Capabilities

NERA has extensive experience using other economic models, including detailed models of the electricity sector and state/regional/federal economies. Examples of electricity markets include:

• The National Energy Modeling System (NEMS), developed by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), provides long-term national and regional projections of production, consumption, and prices for many energy products, as well as emissions, GDP, unemployment, imports, exports, and other outputs. EIA regularly uses NEMS to model federal energy and environmental policies and proposals.
• PROMOD IV, developed by Ventyx, simulates regional electricity markets to estimate market clearing prices and production operating costs. It accounts for unit-specific characteristics and commitments, transmission constraints, reserve requirements, and other electricity market parameters.
• MarketPower, developed by Ventyx, forecasts mid- and long-term energy and capacity prices based on electricity supply and demand. It also models environmental variables, including greenhouse gases and other emissions.

NERA frequently uses the following models to evaluate economic impacts:

• The REMI model, developed by Regional Economic Models, Inc., relies on a detailed set of econometric equations to model the impacts of government policies and investment projects on specific industries and occupational groups. Its dynamic capabilities allow users to analyze changes in economic impacts over time.
• The IMPLAN model, developed by the Minnesota IMPLAN Group, Inc., contains input and output data from over 500 industries for evaluating economic impacts on counties, states, regions, or the entire United States. The IMPLAN model can also be customized to evaluate economic impacts in other countries.

NERA is also quite familiar with the IPM and ADAGE models that are frequently used by US EPA in their analyses of proposed regulations and legislation. NERA staff have frequently been asked by clients to provide an independent critique of analyses performed by US EPA using these models.