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Comparing electricity distribution network revenues and costs in New South Wales, Great Britain and Victoria

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  • Mountain, Bruce
  • Littlechild, Stephen

Abstract

A decade ago, electricity distribution network revenues per customer in New South Wales (NSW) were twice those in Great Britain (GB). Recent price controls imply that by 2014 they will be nearly four times as high. This paper examines possible reasons for this. The main reason does not seem to be geography, operating environment or industry structure. GB and Victoria have managed to accommodate increasing demand at broadly constant or even declining costs and revenues while delivering higher quality of service, while NSW has not. The regulatory framework and the practice of the regulatory body within that framework seem relevant. Australian regulators have not used benchmarking techniques as the GB regulator has. Perhaps the most important explanatory factor is private ownership in GB and Victoria compared to state ownership in NSW. This could also impact on the nature and effectiveness of regulation.

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  • Mountain, Bruce & Littlechild, Stephen, 2010. "Comparing electricity distribution network revenues and costs in New South Wales, Great Britain and Victoria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5770-5782, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:38:y:2010:i:10:p:5770-5782
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    3. Nepal, Rabindra & Menezes, Flavio & Jamasb, Tooraj, 2014. "Network regulation and regulatory institutional reform: Revisiting the case of Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 259-268.
    4. Mountain, Bruce R., 2019. "Ownership, regulation, and financial disparity: The case of electricity distribution in Australia," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Mountain, Bruce, 2014. "Independent regulation of government-owned monopolies: An oxymoron? The case of electricity distribution in Australia," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 188-196.
    6. Lee, Boon L. & Wilson, Clevo & Simshauser, Paul & Majiwa, Eucabeth, 2021. "Deregulation, efficiency and policy determination: An analysis of Australia's electricity distribution sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    7. Havyatt, David, 2022. "Toward consumer-centric energy network regulation: Australia's experience," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Simshauser, Paul, 2021. "Renewable Energy Zones in Australia's National Electricity Market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    9. Tim Nelson & Stephanie Bashir & Eleanor McCracken-Hewson & Michael Pierce, 2017. "The Changing Nature of the Australian Electricity Industry," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 36(2), pages 104-120, June.
    10. Stephen Littlechild, 2012. "Merchant and regulated transmission: theory, evidence and policy," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 308-335, December.
    11. Söderberg, Magnus & Menezes, Flavio M. & Santolino, Miguel, 2018. "Regulatory behaviour under threat of court reversal: Theory and evidence from the Swedish electricity market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 302-310.
    12. Alan Rai & Tim Nelson, 2020. "Australia's National Electricity Market after Twenty Years," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 53(2), pages 165-182, June.
    13. Paul Simshauser & Farhad Billimoria & Craig Rogers, 2021. "Optimising VRE plant capacity in Renewable Energy Zones," Working Papers EPRG2121, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    14. Muller, Renan Bergonsi & Rego, Erik Eduardo, 2021. "Privatization of electricity distribution in Brazil: Long-term effects on service quality and financial indicators," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    15. Simshauser, P., 2021. "Renewable Energy Zones in Australia’s National Electricity Market," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2119, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
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