The Restructuring and Privatization of the U.K. Electricity Supply-Was It Worth It?

Newbery, David M. ; Pollitt, Michael G.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ACID RAIN;    BENEFIT ANALYSIS;    BURNING GAS;    CALCULATION;    CARBON;   

RP-ID  :  17080

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The electricity supply industry inEngland and Wales was under public ownership from 1948 to1990. For most of this period, the Central ElectricityGenerating Board (CEGB) operated all generation andtransmission as a vertically integrated statutory monopoly.In 1990, the CEGB was restructured and privatized. This Notedescribes how a social cost-benefit analysis is conducted toassess the worthiness of the exercise and reports theresults. The analysis shows that the effort was worth it.But there are two areas for improvement in the process ofthe restructuring and privatization. First, about a quarterof the net gains were transferred out of the country. Ifmore attention had been paid to this possibility at the timeof restructuring, some arrangement could probably have beenfound to prevent it. Second, introducing more competition ingeneration would have reduced excess entry and loweredprices, improving the distribution of the net benefits andincreasing social welfare.