“During the COVID-19 pandemic, digital tools have become indispensable to millions of home-bound Americans. Information technology businesses have quickly created or refined systems for distance learning, teleworking, telemedicine, news dissemination, and e-commerce. Yet, despite these successes, there are new demands to regulate companies such as Amazon, Zoom, and Facebook,” write Public Utility Research Center Director and Gunter Professor Dr. Mark Jamison and Post-Doctoral Student Peter Wang. See more about why Jamison and Wang suggest tech companies shouldn’t be punished for
Public Utility Research Center Articles: page 1
How the FCC is keeping the US connected during COVID-19
The Public Utility Research Center (PURC) hosted U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Michael O’Rielly in its latest Next Practices Live. Commissioner O’Rielly spoke with PURC Director and Gunter Professor Dr. Mark Jamison about how the FCC is responding to COVID-19, leadership practices he finds most important in times like this, how a regulator provides leadership working across business and government boundaries, how the FCC updates its learning and adapts its strategies, and what lessons it’s learning.
Base small business support on their economic realities | Mark Jamison
“The economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, and of the government responses to it, are significant and could be staggering, especially for small businesses. A Goldman Sachs small business survey found that a little over half of small businesses might last for less than three months in this economic downturn. Small business employs nearly 60 million people in the U.S. How many will be out of work this year is anyone’s guess, but the number will be large,” writes Public
What the battle over control of PG&E means for US utility customers
By Theodore J. Kury, Director of Energy Studies, Public Utility Research Center, University of Florida Warrington College of Business There’s a battle raging over the ownership of PG&E Corp., one of the nation’s largest utilities, with cities, hedge fund managers and even customers all in the running. Growing liabilities over its role in several deadly wildfires in California forced the company to file for bankruptcy in January. It hopes to soon reemerge with a stronger balance sheet. The state’s governor has
California crisis of fires, blackouts decades in the making
“The utility that serves more than 5 million electrical customers in one of the world’s most technologically advanced areas is now faced again and again with a no-win decision: risk starting catastrophic deadly wildfires, or turn off the lights and immiserate millions of paying customers. Pacific Gas & Electric is in bankruptcy, facing $30 billion in liabilities, billions more in needed upgrades to its system and an uncertain path to safely providing reliable power to a vast portion of California.
Google vs US Attorneys General | In 60 seconds
Attorneys Generals from 48 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington D.C. have launched an investigation into Google for possible antitrust violations. Is there a basis for these investigations, or are the AG’s trying to get a say in how to run the tech giant? Public Utility Research Center Director and Gunter Professor Dr. Mark Jamison shares his take on the antitrust probe.
Research Roundup: Innovative ideas from Warrington in 2018-2019
Over the 2018-2019 academic year, Warrington College of Business faculty members reminded us why they’re some of the best in the world. From producing hundreds of new research papers, to teaching countless students the fundamentals of business, to writing or being quoted in the news about trending topics, the innovative ideas from Warrington faculty members continued to elevate the college into one of the most respected in the world. Warrington faculty had 150 papers accepted or published in the 2018-19
For politicians on both left and right, it’s open season on tech companies
In three separate hearings last week, members of Congress spoke with big tech executives about Facebook’s cryptocurrency plans, alleged censorship by Google and antitrust issues in the industry. Director of the Public Utility Research Center and Gunter Professor Dr. Mark Jamison discusses how regulation of the tech industry could impact consumers in a story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jamison also recently wrote about how government regulation of big tech could cost consumers $700 million. Read his reasoning in a story
Experts Say Sale of JEA Would Be Biggest Public Utility Transaction In The Industry
As the city of Jacksonville, Florida contemplates privatization of its utility, Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA), the eighth-largest community-owned electric utility company in the United States and the largest in Florida, it has much to contemplate, especially considering it might be the largest transaction in the industry’s history, according to experts. Dr. Ted Kury, Director of Energy Studies at the UF Public Utility Research Center, who was part of the team that assessed the value of JEA, spoke with WJCT News
Public Utility Research Center Director panelist in big tech debate
On Thursday, Public Utility Research Center Director and Gunter Professor Dr. Mark Jamison was a panelist on Fox’s Deep Dive along with multiple editors from the Wall Street Journal. The panel discussion, titled “Big Tech Debate,” was hosted by deputy editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page Dan Henninger. Dr. Jamison, Henninger, and Wall Street Journal assistant editorial features editors Jason Willick and Mene Ukueberuwa discussed the world of big tech and whether or not it needs to be broken up.