Lessons from Power Sector Reform in England and Wales
The 1990 power reforms in England and Wales were designed to permit the introduction of competition at both the retail and the wholesale level. Generation was both vertically separated from transmission and horizontally separated. The sector was al...
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| Format: | Viewpoint |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/1995/10/2529229/lessons-power-sector-reform-england-wales http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11651 |
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okr-10986-116512021-04-23T14:02:56Z Lessons from Power Sector Reform in England and Wales Bacon, Robert POWER SECTOR REFORM COMPETITION POLICY RETAIL MARKETING WHOLESALE MARKETING PRIVATIZATION MONOPOLIES NUCLEAR ENERGY OWNERSHIP GRIDS CONSUMER DEMAND GENERATORS TARIFF CUTS BIDDING CONSUMERS COST SAVINGS ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ECONOMIES OF SCALE INFLATION MARGINAL COSTS MARKET FORCES MARKET POWER MARKET STRUCTURE MARKET VALUE MONOPOLIES PRICE CAPS PRODUCTIVITY PURCHASING RETAIL SUPPLIERS TAKEOVER TOTAL COSTS USERS The 1990 power reforms in England and Wales were designed to permit the introduction of competition at both the retail and the wholesale level. Generation was both vertically separated from transmission and horizontally separated. The sector was almost completely privatized-only the nuclear capacity was left in public hands-and regulation was applied both to promote competition and to ensure that the remaining monopolies did not exploit their advantage. The new industry structure emerged with three generating companies: National Power (52 percent of capacity at that time) and PowerGen (33 percent), which were privatized, with 60 percent of their shares sold initially, and Nuclear Electric (15 percent), which was left under public ownership. National Power's share of capacity gave it significant market power. The national grid company-after separation from the generating companies-was transferred to joint ownership by the twelve privatized regional distribution companies. (The grid company retains control of dispatch.) Each of the twelve regional distribution companies (RECs) has two separate functions-distribution (through low voltage wires or, more simply, grid to door) and retail supply (the sale of electricity to final customers) -and these functions must be accounted for separately. Access to the distribution operation of the RECs is regulated so that any seller of electricity has the right to "use" the associated distribution network when selling to a final customer. Until March 1995, the government retained a "golden share" in each REC, giving it the power to block any takeover or merger. 2012-08-13T15:38:10Z 2012-08-13T15:38:10Z 1995-10 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/1995/10/2529229/lessons-power-sector-reform-england-wales Viewpoint. -- Note no. 61 (October 1995) http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11651 English Viewpoint CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Viewpoint Publications & Research Europe and Central Asia |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
POWER SECTOR REFORM COMPETITION POLICY RETAIL MARKETING WHOLESALE MARKETING PRIVATIZATION MONOPOLIES NUCLEAR ENERGY OWNERSHIP GRIDS CONSUMER DEMAND GENERATORS TARIFF CUTS BIDDING CONSUMERS COST SAVINGS ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ECONOMIES OF SCALE INFLATION MARGINAL COSTS MARKET FORCES MARKET POWER MARKET STRUCTURE MARKET VALUE MONOPOLIES PRICE CAPS PRODUCTIVITY PURCHASING RETAIL SUPPLIERS TAKEOVER TOTAL COSTS USERS |
| spellingShingle |
POWER SECTOR REFORM COMPETITION POLICY RETAIL MARKETING WHOLESALE MARKETING PRIVATIZATION MONOPOLIES NUCLEAR ENERGY OWNERSHIP GRIDS CONSUMER DEMAND GENERATORS TARIFF CUTS BIDDING CONSUMERS COST SAVINGS ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ECONOMIES OF SCALE INFLATION MARGINAL COSTS MARKET FORCES MARKET POWER MARKET STRUCTURE MARKET VALUE MONOPOLIES PRICE CAPS PRODUCTIVITY PURCHASING RETAIL SUPPLIERS TAKEOVER TOTAL COSTS USERS Bacon, Robert Lessons from Power Sector Reform in England and Wales |
| geographic_facet |
Europe and Central Asia |
| relation |
Viewpoint |
| description |
The 1990 power reforms in England and
Wales were designed to permit the introduction of
competition at both the retail and the wholesale level.
Generation was both vertically separated from transmission
and horizontally separated. The sector was almost completely
privatized-only the nuclear capacity was left in public
hands-and regulation was applied both to promote competition
and to ensure that the remaining monopolies did not exploit
their advantage. The new industry structure emerged with
three generating companies: National Power (52 percent of
capacity at that time) and PowerGen (33 percent), which were
privatized, with 60 percent of their shares sold initially,
and Nuclear Electric (15 percent), which was left under
public ownership. National Power's share of capacity
gave it significant market power. The national grid
company-after separation from the generating companies-was
transferred to joint ownership by the twelve privatized
regional distribution companies. (The grid company retains
control of dispatch.) Each of the twelve regional
distribution companies (RECs) has two separate
functions-distribution (through low voltage wires or, more
simply, grid to door) and retail supply (the sale of
electricity to final customers) -and these functions must be
accounted for separately. Access to the distribution
operation of the RECs is regulated so that any seller of
electricity has the right to "use" the associated
distribution network when selling to a final customer. Until
March 1995, the government retained a "golden
share" in each REC, giving it the power to block any
takeover or merger. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Viewpoint |
| author |
Bacon, Robert |
| author_facet |
Bacon, Robert |
| author_sort |
Bacon, Robert |
| title |
Lessons from Power Sector Reform in England and Wales |
| title_short |
Lessons from Power Sector Reform in England and Wales |
| title_full |
Lessons from Power Sector Reform in England and Wales |
| title_fullStr |
Lessons from Power Sector Reform in England and Wales |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Lessons from Power Sector Reform in England and Wales |
| title_sort |
lessons from power sector reform in england and wales |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/1995/10/2529229/lessons-power-sector-reform-england-wales http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11651 |
| _version_ |
1764417509985878016 |