Revisiting Reform in the EnergySector : Lessons from Georgia

Lampietti, Julian A. ; Gonzalez, Hernan ; Wilson, Margaret ; Hamilton, Ellen ; Vashakmadze, Sergo

Washington, DC:World Bank

关键词: ADVERSE IMPACT;    BASKET OF GOODS;    BUDGET CONSTRAINTS;    COAL;    CONSUMERS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/0-8213-5689-5
RP-ID  :  27930

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper reviews the changes in thesupply of electricity and gas from the perpective ofhouseholds, utility operators, and the government. Theobjective is to highlight lessons from the reformsimplemented and to apply them to the future reform programplanned for the rest of the energy sector. The paperconcludes that improved service quality and the increasedsupply of clean and subsidized natural gas have offset thepotentially negative impact of higher electricity prices.Despite very good performance by the privatized electricitydistribution company in Tbilisi, the sustainability of thereform program is still in doubt. Consolidated governmentexpenditures on energy have increased, but to a large extentthis simply recognizes costs that were incurred, but notpaid, prior to reform. Existing subsidies to households forelectricity provide compensation beyond levels that producelarge welfare gains. Changing the subsidy system to basetargeting on actual levels of electricity consumption whileproviding enough compensation to ensure the householdreceived a basic level of electricity, would be one optionto improve subsidy targeting.