An analysis of Latin America’s electricity market restructuring efforts : the role of energy regulators, performance, and competition

This thesis reviews restructuring efforts of the electricity market in Latin America. The work first examines the drivers that have encouraged Latin American countries to restructure their power markets, going from government-held monopolies to fully privatized systems. Then a general conceptual theory is presented to describe the main differences between restructuring and privatization, and antitrust theory. Next, five countries are selected due to their leadership role in electric reforms in the region as well as their economic weight. Then a complete description of their power generation and electricity consumption is described as well as their experiences undergone before and after electricity restructuring. A summary section is presented by benchmarking the five countries and identifying the common issues faced that will help others plan better electric systems. Then, an analysis of their internal market competition is presented, analyzing the impact of electricity costs and rates. Finally, the last portion of this thesis concludes by exploring future trends in market integration programs as well as the challenges for sustainable economic growth, environmental impacts, and cooperation.