ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at just one example of economic instruments being used to regulate and promote electric energy production and distribution. When it comes to electricity, technological changes mean opportunities for societies to integrate renewable energy resources into their portfolios to create an electric grid that is more reliable and has less impact on the environment. The Dutch electric grid is connected to Belgium, Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom via high voltage lines that run along the North Sea bed. Net metering, feed-in tariffs, value of solar, and virtual solar mean different things to different states. For most of the world’s cultures today, life without electricity would be unthinkable. For decades the use of dirtier fuels such as coal was considered essential for electricity generation. Even if cleaner options like natural gas or renewables were available, their use was considered impractical and cost-prohibitive.
