Efficiency and Restructuring in Regulated Energy Networks: Evidence from Germany and the US

Although the German framework of incentive-based energy regulation appears to be well-defined because it draws from international experience and eliminates several present drawbacks existing with revenue-cap regulation doubts of industry and politicians concerning the application of benchmarking techniques and more importantly, the future industry structure, remain. The regulation scheme is based on experience with energy sector reforms in the US due to it being a precursor in this regard, e.g. by introducing incentive-based regulation as early as 1994 and publishing the relevant data in a very detailed way. This thesis therefore brings together the two issues of certain efficiency measurement problems and the industry restructuring in Germany and the US in order to contribute to the current discussion of robust benchmarking and to provide political implications related to the industry’s structure. Therefore, the application of DEA and SFA constitutes the heart of the whole study. These techniques are applied on German electricity DSOs as well as on data for US electricity DSOs and US gas TSOs. The application to US data can then be used to derive information about business strategies and their success in a sector that is being restructured. The US experience will lead to relevant German policy implications with respect to the future structure of the energy industry in Germany.

Level thesis:degree_level

thesis.doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher

Technische Universität Dresden

Year

2009

Author dc:creator

• Hess, Borge

Contributors dc:contributor

• von Hirschhausen, Christian
• Wieland, Bernhard
• Stephan, Andreas

• electricity
• natural gas
• distribution
• incentive regulation
• benchmarking
• efficiency analysis
• Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)
• Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA)
• mergers & acquisitions
• Germany
• USA
• Elektrizität
• Erdgas
• Verteilung
• Anreizregulierung
• Effizienzanalyse
• Fusionen