Nationalisation and Privatisation. Ownership, Markets and the Scope for Introducing Competition into the Electricity Supply Industry

In the context of examining the nationalisation and privatisation of the electricity supply industry, this paper examines the scope for introducing competition into the industry. It makes an internationally comparative analysis of the differing approaches to the issue of restructuring, whether in England and Wales, California or in a Europe challenged by the European Directive. The complex issues of providing sufficient incentives to encourage future investment are examined alongside efforts to construct Pool arrangements which encourage current producers to optimise efficiency and pass those benefits on to consumers.