Construction and application of the MEEDE dataset

Abstract

We describe the construction of a highly detailed dataset of the US electric sector—the Micro-level Economic and Environmental Detail of Electricity. The dataset represents a unique synthesis of engineering, economic, and environmental data pertaining to electricity generation. These data can support partial or general equilibrium modeling efforts requiring highly detailed depictions of the electric sector. We first provide thorough documentation of the data construction process and a set of descriptive statistics on the data components. We outline how the data can be used to support a partial equilibrium model or integrated into a general equilibrium model. The integrated approach we describe can preserve key environmental and economic features of electricity generation and pollution abatement. It does so while avoiding certain time costs and risks of linked two-model approaches. The integrated approach offers the transparency and economic and environmental realism required of rigorous policy analyses.