Incentive regulation of electricity distribution networks: Lessons of experience from Britain

This paper reviews the recent experience of the UK electricity distribution sector under incentive regulation. The UK has a significant and transparent history in implementing incentive regulation in the period since 1990. We demonstrate the successes of this period in reducing costs, prices, and energy losses while maintaining quality of service. We also draw out the lessons for other countries in implementing distribution sector reform. We conclude by discussing the place of incentive regulation of networks within the wider reform context, the required legislative framework, the need for appropriate unbundling, the importance of quality of service incentives, the regulatory information requirements, and the role of sector rationalisation.     

From state monopoly to renewable portfolio: Restructuring China's electric utility

Deregulation and decentralization in the electricity sector have thrived worldwide since the early 1980s. China also started restructuring its electricity industry since the mid-1980s. The reform shares many common features with restructuring practices in other countries and exhibits some unique characteristics as well. To some extent, two features, namely governmental administrative departments’ dual role of government and business inherited from a highly centralized planned economy, and the coal-intensive nature of power generation, has determined many aspects of the evolution of China's electric power sector. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive account of the process with some emphasis on recent developments. We also identify some of the features that are similar to electricity market reforms in other countries and, most importantly, those that characterize the uniqueness of the restructuring practices in China's electricity industry through investigating the administrative framework, price and investment mechanisms, and associated legislation and policy settings at each of the five stages in the evolution of the electric utility sector. The paper concludes with a discussion and summary of some generic characteristics and remaining challenges.     

What happened to efficiency in electricity industries after reforms?

The last two decades have witnessed widespread power market reforms in both developed and developing countries that have cost billions of dollars. Among the key aims (and assumptions) of these reforms, there has always been realization of improvements in power sector efficiency. This paper questions the validity of this hypothesis. Using panel data from 92 countries covering the period 1982–2008, empirical models are developed and analyzed. The research findings suggest that the impact of the reforms on electricity industry performance is statistically significant but also limited. The results imply that, after controlling for country-specific variables, application of liberal market models in electricity industries slightly increases efficiency in power sector. Besides, we detect a positive relationship between reform process and the percentage share of network (transmission and distribution) losses in total electricity supplied, meaning that as countries take more reform steps the network losses as a fraction of power generated tend to increase. Moreover, the study puts forward that income level and other country specific features are more important determinants of industry efficiency than the reform process. Overall, contrary to expectations of substantial increases in sector efficiency, the paper concludes that introducing a decentralized market model with competition in the electricity sector has a limited increasing effect on power industry performance.     

Cost efficiency and electricity market structure: A case study of OECD countries

The OECD electricity sector has witnessed significant institutional restructuring over the past three decades. As a consequence, many power generation utilities now act as unregulated companies that technically compete to sell power on an open market. This paper analyses the performance in term of cost efficiency for electricity generation in OECD power sector while accounting for the impact of electricity market structures. We employ the short-run cost function in which capital stock is treated as a quasi-fixed factor input. Empirical models are developed for the cost function as a translog form and analysed using panel data of 25 countries during the period 1980 to 2009. We show that it is necessary to model latent country-specific heterogeneity in addition to time-varying inefficiency. The estimated economies of scale are adjusted to take account of the importance of the quasi-fixed capital input in determining cost behaviour, and long run constant returns to scale are verified for the OECD generation sector. The research findings suggest there is a significant impact of electricity market regulatory indicators on cost. In particular, public ownership and vertical integration are found to have significant and sizable increasing impacts on cost, thereby indicating policy lessons on the desirable ways to implement structural electricity generation reforms.     

英国电力改革20年引发的思考

1990年4月开始的英国电力体制改革是按照新自由主义理论来设计的,其主要内容是:所有权从国家向私人投资者转变;雇员向继承企业的转移;引入竞争性市场;形成独立管制系统。世界银行1992年政策报告介绍了美、英等国的电力体制改革经验之后,对发展中国家的电力改革提出了5项原则规定,这些规定实际上要求发展中国家按照美、英等国的电力体制改革模式进行改革。对于中国电力体制改革是否应采用英美的单一购买机制模式存在着争议。美国加州2000年采用单一购买机制模式进行的电力改革酿成了电力危机。英国经调查研究,决定从2001年3月起用新电力交易制度替代强制电力库,形成了英国电力体制改革的第二波。这使人们认识到,在英国已被认为不可行的单一购买机制不能继续照抄照搬。最近20年,世界能源发生了变化。英国原来发起的竞争性电力体制改革只能适应以化石能源发电为主的市场,为了应对气候变化,要实行节能减排,发展低碳能源发电,为此英国正在酝酿第三波新的电力体制改革。回顾英国20年的电力体制改革,我们应思考:为什么英国在20年里不断地调查研究,不断地创新电力体制改革模式?而我们在这20年里只是跟着英国亦步亦趋,不能创新电力体制改革模式呢?     

Power sector reform and distributed generation in sub-Saharan Africa

As part of the current liberalisation process sweeping sub-Saharan Africa, power sectors across the region are being scrutinised and restructured. A critical aspect of the reform is improving access to electricity by large segments of the population. Many in the continent are, therefore, looking at the issue of distributed generation as opposed to grid extension and the role of renewable energy in this process. The purpose of this paper is to inform this discussion by two means. First, after examining the concept of distributed — or decentralised — generation in a region where urban population is, on average, 30–40 per cent of the region's population, the authors discuss the issues involved, drawing on the experiences of other countries whether there are any apparent ‘preconditions’ for success. Second, the role renewable energy can play in this process and the extent to which lessons from other parts of the world might be transferable to the countries of sub-Saharan Africa is assessed. The paper concludes by investigating the prospects for distributed generation in power sector reform in sub-Saharan Africa, arguing that though lessons from other parts of the world will be helpful, they cannot be all-determining.     

Electricity sector restructuring in India: an environmentally beneficial policy?

It has been suggested that reforms to the electricity sector in developing countries encouraging the entry of independent power producers (IPPs) are likely to result in environmental improvements similar to those recently made in a number of developed economies. The present paper evaluates this claim by examining the experience of the Indian power sector. It finds that recent investments by IPPs have reduced the pollution-intensity of electricity generation in the country. Yet they have not brought the significant gains seen in countries such as the UK, nor are they likely to in the foreseeable future. This is largely a product of the nature and context of electricity sector reform in India which is less favourable to environmentally beneficial outcomes. Accordingly, the paper concludes by suggesting that the environmental benefits of restructuring are not automatic, but depend on the existence of an enabling structural, institutional and regulatory framework.     

Effects of regulatory reforms in the electricity supply industry on electricity prices in developing countries

Electric power sector reforms in the electricity supply industry have had an impact on industrial and household prices in developing countries in Latin America, the former Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe. Using original panel data for 83 countries during the period from 1985 to 2002, we examine how each policy instrument of the reform measures influenced electricity prices for countries in the above regions. We found that variables such as entry of independent power producers (IPP), unbundling of generation and transmission, establishment of a regulatory agency, and the introduction of a wholesale spot market have had a variety of impacts on electricity prices, some of which were not always consistent with expected results. The research findings suggest that neither unbundling nor introduction of a wholesale pool market on their own necessarily reduces the electric power price. In fact, contrary to expectations, there was a tendency for the price to rise. However, coexistent with an independent regulator, unbundling may work to reduce electricity prices. Privatization and the introduction of foreign IPP and retail competition lower electricity prices in some regions, but not all.     

Why and how to subsidise energy R+D: Lessons from the collapse and recovery of electricity innovation in the UK

The UK electricity sector liberalisation was a pioneer in the worldwide reform trend and its reform model and outcomes have been the subject of many studies. However, lesser known are the effects of privatisation, market based reforms, and incentive regulation of networks on research and development as well as patenting activities in the sector. This paper updates our previous studies of this subject and discusses the recent developments in the innovative activities in the UK electricity sector. We find that, in recent years, the initial absence of support policies and the subsequent decline in innovation efforts in the aftermath of the reform has resulted in efforts towards forming an energy technology and innovation policy. Although we already observe some positive outcomes from these efforts, we discuss whether the balance of the innovation efforts are calibrated appropriately and whether the institutional framework can be further improved to promote long term progress.     

Power sector reform in South Asia: Why slow and limited so far?

Although South Asian developing countries had initiated some form of electric power sector reform in the 1990s, often under external lending agency pressures, not much progress has been made so far and there is hardly any noteworthy example of a successful reform in the region. This paper provides a brief review of power sector reform efforts in five South Asian countries and uses an institutional economics framework to identify the factors shaping the success of power sector reforms. Four factors, namely instability of rule-makers, poor overall acceptance, slow adaptation and poor transition management are identified and their effect on the reform process of South Asia are analysed. The paper finds that political instability has affected the power sector reform of the region, making hard decisions difficult to take. Slow progress of reform has also affected the sector viability, as signs of adverse effects on the power sector investment and performance are already visible.     

Electricity distribution industry restructuring in South Africa: A case study

For 20 years there has been vigorous debate about restructuring the large, developed electricity industry in South Africa, but the plans have not been implemented. The justification of the proposed restructuring illustrates the different expectations of the participants in the electricity industry. The case study reviews what has occurred against a background of some theories about organisations, and identifies six key issues. Some lessons include the need to adopt an industry structure compatible with the objectives of electricity distribution in developing countries, the unsuitability of orthodox approaches to organisations, that no industry structure appears to be significantly better than others, industry restructuring of public sector utilities has a significant political dimension, restructuring can fail even if there is support from a high level of government, and indecision and uncertainty have serious negative consequences. The experience should be helpful for other developing countries considering structural change of their electricity industry.     

Renewable energy policy and electricity market reforms in China

The article examines the potential effectiveness of the renewable energy policy in China and its regulatory Law framework. It frames the option of renewable energy technology within the background of the long-lasting electricity problems that China has faced including serious supply shortages, reliance on coal, and severe environmental contamination. Its dual administrative and ownership system based on state and privately owned industry is discussed together with the market reform measures adopted in the sector. Current renewable energy policy is analysed, and the scope of the 2005 Renewable Energy Promotion Law is investigated. This is conducted within the context of the electricity sector reform that China adopted, and its effects upon the prospects of encouraging as well as expanding the development of renewable energy. This study draws upon primary information collected from interviews with stakeholders on the policy adequacy, and identifies three main types of shortcomings that have interfered with a more successful expansion of renewable energy in China.     

Electricity wholesale market prices in Europe: Convergence?

This paper tests the hypothesis that the ongoing restructuring process in the European electricity sector has led to a common European market for electricity. Based on a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of wholesale electricity prices in 2002–2006, we reject the assumption of full market integration. For several pairs of countries, the weaker hypothesis of (bilateral) convergence is accepted based on unit root tests (KPSS and ADF) and a convergence test based on filtered pairwise price relations. This indicates that the efforts to develop a single European market for electricity were so far only partially successful. We show that the daily auction prices of scarce cross-border transmission capacities are insufficient to explain the persistence of international price differentials. Empirically, our findings confirm the insufficiency of explicit capacity auctions as stated in the theoretical literature.     

电力市场化改革中的终端电力能源效率问题

提高终端电力能源效率,是实现电力可持续发展的重要保障。然而,从我国电力市场化改革的进程来看,终端电力能源效率问题在很大程度上被忽视,甚至还受到了一定的负面影响。如何将终端电力能源效率问题综合纳入电力改革进程,采取妥善的应对措施促进终端电力能源效率的持续提高,是我国电力改革所面临的一项重大挑战。本文试图分析英、美两国电力市场化改革中针对终端电力能源效率问题所采取的政策措施,并探讨其对我国的启示意义。     

Made in Mexico: Energy reform and manufacturing growth

We assess the real effects of a recent opening of the energy sector in Mexico to private investment. We look at one particular channel, which operates through the change in the structure of electricity generation in favor of cheaper sources of energy, such as natural gas. We look at the potential impact of this structural change on electricity prices and ultimately on manufacturing output using subsector and state-level manufacturing output data. We first document that electricity prices—relative to oil and gas—are more important to the manufacturing sector, with a one-standard deviation reduction in those prices leading to a 2.8% increase in manufacturing output. This elasticity, together with estimated decreases in electricity prices on the back of the reform, could increase manufacturing output by up to 3.6%, and overall real GDP by 0.6%. Larger effects are possible in the long run if increased efficiency in the electricity sector leads to further decreases in electricity prices. There can also be larger effects stemming from output in the services sector which we find to also respond statistically significantly to electricity prices; and from the endogenous response of unit labor costs, which decrease with lower electricity prices.     

Industrial and institutional restructuring of the Russian electricity sector: Status and issues

The reform of the Russian electricity industry represents one of the largest and most technically complex post-Soviet era industrial restructurings. This paper presents the framework, status, and perspectives for the Russian electricity sector liberalisation. Uncertainties regarding the effective implementation of the reform are specifically examined. Ultimately the critical analysis of the reform questions the feasibility and adequacy of the recommended measures in the specific Russian context. Current theories fail to answer a fundamental issue, namely how to promote investment in an obsolete electrical infrastructure and, more generally, whether a pure free market model is compatible with physical constraints posed by the electricity sector. A careless deregulation of the Russian electricity system could hinder the country's stable and sustainable development, as its economy and the population's service have traditionally been closely linked to the electricity industry.     

Electricity restructuring in Turkey

Turkey implemented the electricity sector reform by which the Electricity Market Law no. 4628 passed in February 2001. Recently, all segments of the Turkish electricity sector are dominated by a vertically integrated, public-owned monopoly—Türkiye Elektrik Kurumu—the Turkish electricity institution. The Turkish electricity reform involves vertical deintegration of generation, transmission and distribution, introduction of competition into generation and retail sale, establishment of an independent regulatory authority and privatization of public generation and distribution entities. This article provides an overview of the Turkish electricity sector reform and defines some problems that may affect the reform success.