Publisher Description

The electricity market has experienced enormous setbacks in delivering on the promise of deregulation. In theory, deregulating the electricity market would increase the efficiency of the industry by producing electricity at lower costs and passing those cost savings on to customers. As Electricity Deregulation shows, successful deregulation is possible, although it is by no means a hands-off process—in fact, it requires a substantial amount of design and regulatory oversight.

This collection brings together leading experts from academia, government, and big business to discuss the lessons learned from experiences such as California's market meltdown as well as the ill-conceived policy choices that contributed to those failures. More importantly, the essays that comprise Electricity Deregulation offer a number of innovative prescriptions for the successful design of deregulated electricity markets. Written with economists and professionals associated with each of the network industries in mind, this comprehensive volume provides a timely and astute deliberation on the many risks and rewards of electricity deregulation.

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The electricity market has experienced enormous setbacks in delivering on the promise of deregulation. In theory, deregulating the electricity market would increase the efficiency of the industry by producing electricity at lower costs and passing those cost savings on to customers. However, deregulation poses substantial risks if the market is not designed properly, as the recent California crisis demonstrated. As Electricity Deregulation shows, successful deregulation is possible, although it is by no means a hands-off process--in fact, it requires a substantial amount of design and regulatory oversight. This collection brings together leading experts from academia, government, and big business to discuss the lessons learned from experiences such as California's market meltdown as well as the ill-conceived policy choices that contribute to such failures. More importantly, the essays that comprise Electricity Deregulation offer a number of innovative prescriptions for the successful design of deregulated electricity markets. Written with economists and professionals associated with each of the network industries in mind, this comprehensive volume provides a timely and astute deliberation on the many risks and rewards of electricity deregulation.

Author Biography

James M. Griffin is the Bob Bullock Chair in Public Policy and Finance at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. His books include Energy, Economics, and Policy and OPEC Behavior and World Oil Prices. Steven L. Puller is assistant professor of economics at Texas A&M University.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Primer on Electricity and the Economics of Deregulation James M. Griffin and Steven L. Puller Part I - Experiences and Case Studies in Electricity Restructuring 1. The Difficult Transition to Competitive Electricity Markets in the United States Paul L. Joskow 2. Restructuring the Electricity Industry in England and Wales Richard Green 3. Lessons from the California Electricity Crisis Frank A. Wolak 4. Lessons Learned: The Texas Experience Ross Baldick and Hui Niu Part II - Policies for Successful Market Design 5. The Efficiency of Electricity Generation in the United States after Restructuring Catherine Wolfram 6. Looking for Trouble: Competition Policy in the U.S. Electricity Industry James Bushnell 7. The Oversight of Restructured Electricity Markets Alvin K. Klevorick 8. Time-Varying Retail Electricity Prices: Theory and Practice Severin Borenstein 9. Transmission Market Design William W. Hogan 10. Ensuring Generation Adequacy in Competitive Electricity Markets Shmuel S. Oren 11. Perspectives from Policymakers Pat Wood III, Thomas R. Kuhn, and Joe Barton Conclusion: Final Thoughts James M. Griffin and Steven L. Puller Author Index Subject Index

Review

"In Electricity Deregulation contributors examine what's gone wrong with electricity deregulation in the United States and why it has stalled. Not content to simply offer a rehashing of the many mistakes made, the essays in this volume go further than other literature on the topic to propose several policy and technological correctives for moving industry restructuring forward. The high quality of the contributors assembled here and the thoughtfulness of their papers make this a novel and important volume."--R. Richard Geddes, Cornell University--R. Richard Geddes "R. Richard Geddes" (4/26/2005 12:00:00 AM)
"In contrast to the experience in transportation and telecommunications, electricity deregulation has experienced many difficulties, and there is an ongoing debate concerning how regulatory policy should be reformulated. This volume gathers many of the leading analysts of electricity markets. They provide an analysis of deregulation so far, and of the challenges and prospects for the future. This book will interest both academics and industry participants. The contributors provide a timely and accessible account."--Robert Porter, Northwestern University--Robert Porter "Robert Porter" (4/26/2005 12:00:00 AM)
"This is a thoughtful, well-researched, and often provocative set of papers that will inform and stimulate debate on this important topic."--Stephen Littlechild, Judge Institute of Management, University of Cambridge--Stephen Littlechild "Stephen Littlechild" (4/26/2005 12:00:00 AM)

Review Quote

"This is a thoughtful, well-researched, and often provocative set of papers that will inform and stimulate debate on this important topic."--Stephen Littlechild, Judge Institute of Management, University of Cambridge

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