Description
Book SynopsisThe issue of electricity reform has been on the agenda in Europe for a decade and remains a high priority for policymakers looking to the future. However, the performances of new electricity markets are still not clear and arouse significant controversy.
This book focuses on the diversity of electricity reforms in Western Europe, drawing evidence from ten European Union memberstates plus Norway and Switzerland as associate members. The contributors analyse the various ways of introducing competition in the European electricity industries, and consider both the strategies of electricity companies and their behaviour in electricity marketplaces. They also offer an explanation of the differences of reforms by the institutions and the industrial structures of each country which shape the types of marketrules, industrial restructuring and public service regulations which have been adopted.
As a whole, this volume will attract scholars, PhD and post-graduate students, notably those interested in energy economics, comparative institutional economics and applied industrial economics. European and non-European energy companies or regulatory authorities looking for an independent and analytical overview of European electricity markets will also find this book of great interest.
Trade Review'The collaborators for this book have provided a great service to those interested in this vital energy industry. . . readers with either a practical or academic interest in power sector reform will find this book timely and of great interest.' -- Robert Skinner, The Journal of Energy Literature
'. . . an excellent overview of entrepreneurial and regulatory strategies in the European electricity industries. . .' -- Carsten Grave, European Competition Law Review
'An excellent collection of papers examining alternative approaches to introducing competition into the electricity sectors of European countries. There is much to learn about how to improve the performance of electricity market liberalization in all countries from the studies in this volume.' -- Paul L. Joskow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US
Table of ContentsContents: Introduction 1. The Making of Competitive Electricity Markets in Europe: No Single Way and No ‘Single Market’ Part I: The British and Scandinavian Pioneers 2. Electricity in England and Wales: Efficiency and Equity 3. Reforming the Reform in the Electricity Industry: Lessons from the British Experience 4. Strategic Pricing for Network Access: Evidence from Electricity Distribution in England and Wales 5. The Deregulated Electricity Markets in Norway and Sweden: A Tentative Assessment 6. The Nordic Public Ownership Model Under Transition to Market Economy: The Case of Electricity Part II: The Making of Electricity Markets in Western Central Europe 7. Competition and Market Power in Northern Europe 8. New Corporate Strategies in the German Electricity Supply Industry 9. The Implementation of the EU Directive for Electricity in Austria: A New Era for the Austrian Electricity Supply Industry 10. Opening the Swiss Electricity Market to Competition Part III: The Making of Electricity Markets in Southern Europe 11. Introducing Competition in the French Electricity Supply Industry: Erosion of the Public Hierarchy by the European Institutional Integration 12. Electricity Sector Restructuring in Belgium 13. Institutional and Organizational Reform in the Italian Electricity Supply Industry: Reconciling Competition with the Single Tariff 14. The Iberian Electricity Market: Towards a Common Market? Index
