After unknown saboteurs toppled a strategic pylon near Lethabo Power Station in the Free State in November 2021, almost causing the country to plunge into stage 6 load shedding, Eskom’s chief executive officer André de Ruyter declared: ‘This was clearly now an act of sabotage and I think we can call it as such.’ Who was behind this, and what is their ultimate goal?

Since his appointment in January 2020, De Ruyter has faced intense opposition from within the power utility as he attempts to clean up corruption and return the electricity company to a semblance of its former glory. He is not alone. Chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer and other trusted allies in Eskom have also come under intense fire. From forensic investigations and botched probes to accusations of racism, De Ruyter and Oberholzer have spent significant amounts of time fending off allegation after allegation. Amid this onslaught, it has become clear that their enemies will take any measures necessary to have them removed from office.

Based on exclusive interviews with De Ruyter, Oberholzer and other key figures, Sabotage is a story of conspiracy and subterfuge at South Africa’s ailing power utility, uncovering the power struggles that threaten the country’s very survival.

The Economics of Electricity Markets provides a cutting-edge analysis of the critical issues involved in the design and operation of electricity markets, as well as an assessment of alternative institutional arrangements that have either been implemented or are under discussion in Europe and the US.The book illustrates how a sound market design can render electricity trading and retailing very much like that of other commodities. Social and political concerns, rather than engineering or economics, are what make electricity markets 'special'. The expert contributors address a wide set of issues that arise when competition is introduced to the electricity industry, ranging from the design of spot and real-time power markets to alternative approaches to congestion management, from competition policy in wholesale electricity markets to the benefits and costs of retail competition, and from regulatory measures to ensure generation capacity adequacy to the politicization of generation investment decisions as a way of pursuing sustainability targets. This highly informative book will appeal to academics, students and researchers in the field of advanced energy economics, and will prove essential reading for energy regulators, professionals and executives wishing to explore the theoretical foundations underpinning their day-to-day activities. Contributors: G. Cervigni, A. Commisso, A. Creti, D. Perekhodtsev, C. Poletti, P. Ranci

The UK model of incentive regulation of power grids was at one time the most advanced, and elements of it were adopted throughout the EU. This model worked well, particularly in the context of limited investment and innovation, a single and strong regulatory authority, and limited coordination between foreign grid operators. This enlightening book demonstrates how the landscape has changed markedly since 2010 and that regulation has had to work hard to catch up and evolve. As the EU enters a wave of investment and an era of new services and innovation, this has created growing tensions between national regulatory authorities in terms of coordinating technical standards and distribution systems. This is being played out against an increasingly disruptive backdrop of digitization, new market platforms and novel business models. Electricity Network Regulation in the EU adopts a truly European approach to the complex issues surrounding the topic, focusing on the grey areas and critical questions that have traditionally been difficult to answer. Incentive regulation and grids are addressed simultaneously at the theoretical and practical level, providing the reader with fundamental concepts and concrete examples. This timely book is an invaluable read for energy practitioners working in utility companies, regulators and other public bodies. It will also appeal to academics involved in the world of electricity regulation. The book utilizes language that would make it suitable for interdisciplinary students, including engineering and law scholars. Contributors include: P. Bhagwat, J.-M. Glachant, S.Y. Hadush, L. Meeus, V. Rious, N. Rossetto, T. Schittekatte

Despite the extensive body of literature on energy economics, very little economics research has been conducted that focuses specifically on dams and hydroelectric power. Brian Edwards addresses this deficiency by examining the multiple roles that dams play, as well as the role of hydroelectric power within the context of the energy industry. Brian Edwards provides an in-depth analysis of how dams are used in water management, flood control and irrigation, as well as the environmental impacts of their construction and operation. He examines the types of restrictions imposed on operators to mitigate impacts, and the resulting tradeoffs between achieving hydroelectric generation and environmental management objectives. Also covered is the role of hydroelectric power in both a regulatory framework and within the context of the energy industry deregulation that has occurred in the US and other countries. A simple dynamic model of a hydroelectric generating facility forms the basis for other models discussed. Case studies of dams operated by the United States Department of Energy are also included. Environmental economists, researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and those interested in natural resources and the energy industry will find this a unique and valuable study.

The issue of electricity reform has been on the agenda in Europe for a decade and remains a high priority for policymakers looking to the future. However, the performances of new electricity markets are still not clear and arouse significant controversy. This book focuses on the diversity of electricity reforms in Western Europe, drawing evidence from ten European Union memberstates plus Norway and Switzerland as associate members. The contributors analyse the various ways of introducing competition in the European electricity industries, and consider both the strategies of electricity companies and their behaviour in electricity marketplaces. They also offer an explanation of the differences of reforms by the institutions and the industrial structures of each country which shape the types of marketrules, industrial restructuring and public service regulations which have been adopted. As a whole, this volume will attract scholars, PhD and post-graduate students, notably those interested in energy economics, comparative institutional economics and applied industrial economics. European and non-European energy companies or regulatory authorities looking for an independent and analytical overview of European electricity markets will also find this book of great interest.

Worldwide, the electric utility industry has been changing over the last several years as deregulation and privatization have been instituted. These changes in how the industry does business are summarized, and the evolving experience of the deregulation in 15 major countries is analyzed. In addition to the analysis, theoretical models and detailed case studies are provided to illustrate the changes. Utility regulatory agency personnel, utility management staff, and research professionals will all be interested in this work.

Competition in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity is of increasing interest to policy makers as well as to buyers and sellers of power. The use of competition as a social policy tool to benefit consumers carries the necessity of preserving competition when it is threatened by mergers or other structural changes. The work explains central principles of antitrust economics and applies them to mergers in the electric power industry. This work focuses on mergers, but the economic principles explained here will be useful in analyzing many important issues flowing from growth of competition in electric power. For example, proper definition of markets and analysis of market power will be useful in decisions on whether to continue regulation.

Before the energy crisis of the 1970s, electricity provision was a non-issue the world over, but the crisis of 1973 induced policymakers worldwide to consider private and restructured electricity provision as an alternative to unified, publicly and privately owned systems. Czamanski examines arguments and experiences concerning the divestitute of state-owned enterprises in a variety of political and technological contexts. He also considers restructuring under the Thatcher government in Great Britian, the reforms drafted by Czamanski in Israel, and restructuring in the United States as well as events in Norway, the Pacific Rim, Canada, and the developing countries. In addition, he considers the advantages and disadvantages of privatizing through theoretical discussion and by exploring experiences in various countries.

This book uses electricity-sector reforms to question some of the preconceived ideas concerning the MENA region and to provide a broader analysis of related political economy issues. It presents potential further developments of MENA's electricity-sector reforms, taking into consideration the region's unique constraints and opportunities, and discusses the practical limits of reform and deregulation. Specifically, it examines the relationship between reforms and oil prices from a new perspective and presents alternatives to the Single Buyer Model. Complementing existing research on electricity-sector reforms in other emerging markets, the book provides a new analytical framework for assessing reforms that can be easily applied to other markets and sectors.

Suitable for self-study or for in-company one-to-one or group teaching, this title presents an essential resource for improving communication in English within the gas and electricity industries.

Utility and Welfare Optimization in Electricity Market s lays out clear optimization strategies for understanding the economic foundations of regulatory supply measures, further cementing electricity's role as an asset class with fixed and variable costs.

This book describes the common ground between electricity markets (EMs) and software agents (or artificial intelligence generally). It presents an up-to-date introduction to EMs and intelligent agents, and offers a comprehensive description of the research advances and key achievements related to existing and emerging market designs to reliably and efficiently manage the potential challenges of variable generation (VG). Most EMs are unique in their complex relationships between economics and the physics of energy, but were created without the notion that large penetrations of variable generation (VG) would be part of the supply mix. An advanced multi-agent approach simulates the behavior of power markets over time, particularly markets with large-scale penetrations of renewable resources. It is intended as a reference book for researchers, academics and industry practitioners, but given the scope of the chapters and the highly accessible style, the book also provides a coherent foundation for several different graduate courses.

Technologies such as renewable energy alternatives including wind, solar and biomass, storage technologies and electric engines are creating a different landscape for the electricity industry. Using sources and ideas from technologies such as renewable energy alternatives, Research and Technology Management in the Electricity Industry explores a different landscape for this industry and applies it to the electric industry supported by real industry cases. Divided into three sections, Research and Technology Management in the Electricity Industry introduces a range of methods and tools including technology assessment, forecasting, roadmapping, research and development portfolio management and technology transfer. These tools are the applied to emerging technologies in this industry with case studies including data from various organizations including Bonneville Power Administration and Energy Trust of Oregon, from sectors including lighting and wind energy. The final section considers innovation through these technologies. A product result of a collaboration between Bonneville Power Administration and Portland State University, Research and Technology Management in the Electricity Industry is a comprehensive collection of methods, tools, examples and pathways for future innovation in the electricity industry.

Peak Load and Capacity Pricing lays out clear pricing strategies for understanding peak load and capacity pricing structures, further cementing electricity's role as an asset class with fixed and variable costs.

With major structural changes will need to be thoroughly reexamined. This book discusses decision making for problems where a particular decision affects the options available at the next decision time. The deregulation of the electric utility industry will shift the emphasis from a cost-based to a price-based approach; the resulting occuring in the electric power industry, many long-standing ways of operation increase in uncertainty requires that a stochastic approach be adopted for optimal decision-making. This monograph covers a wide range of topics including dynamic programming, ordinal optimization, price modelling and forecasting, future market decisions, reserve market decisions and decisions in a congested market place.

Most people-including many legislators, regulators, and other decision makers in the electric utility industry-have misconceptions about how electric utilities really "work" and plan for the future. This lack of understanding can lead to poorly informed decisions and policies that directly affect the choices utilities must make. Using easy-to-understand text and examples, Electric Utility Resource Planning: Economics, Reliability, and Decision-Making clarifies how utilities operate their systems and prepare for the future. This explanation will show readers that both expected and counterintuitive results can occur (i.e., conservation might result in higher air emissions, or lowering costs could lead to higher electric rates). Taking readers step by step through this process, the book (in the following order): "Creates" a hypothetical utility Explains how and why a utility operates its system of generating units Discusses the planning methods that a utility would (or should) use Guides readers through each stage of a planning analysis for the hypothetical utility, examining various resource options (conservation, new power plants, and solar) In addition, the author introduces four Fundamental Principles of Resource Planning that should guide utilities. He also offers opinions on how certain trends in utility regulation and legislation can hinder utility planners' efforts to identify and select the best resources for the utility's customers. With this book, author Dr. Steven Sim applies his experience and insights from more than two decades of resource planning for Florida Power and Light (FPL). As one of the largest utilities in the United States, FPL has faced a multitude of resource planning challenges, and Dr. Sim has performed and supervised thousands of analyses designed to meet these obstacles. He has also served as an FPL witness in regulatory hearings on a wide variety of topics, ranging from the economic implications of nuclear, conservation, coal, gas, and other resource options, to the non-economic impacts (air emissions, fuel usage, system reliability, etc.) they present.

Consume thy rival may be the new law of corporate survival in the U.S. utilities industry. This book describes close to $70 billion of global utility mergers stemming from the anticipated deregulation of the U.S. gas and electrical utilities industries. Occurring from 1995 to 1997, these mergers are completely restructuring U.S. power utilities. Thirty-seven billion dollars of these mergers, a full 53 percent, occurred abroad. About two-thirds of the foreign mergers were U.S. takeovers, while the remaining one-third was mergers, defensive and otherwise, of U.K. firms with other U.K. firms. This may be the first time U.S. industrial restructuring has generated more investment abroad rather than in domestic markets.

Exploring the diversity of strategies and changes driving these mergers, the author concludes that although complex, the mergers can be explained by strategies traditionally used in domestic M&As. These very large U.S. utilities now consider themselves to be operating in a global industry of private, deregulated utilities, and they are determined to survive through mergers that help them cut costs, spread expenses, and increase profits.

Margot P. C. Weijnen, Zofia Lukszo and Geert Deconinck Abstract The infrastructures for electric power and information and telecommunication services are critical enablers for all economic activity. Both of these infrastructure systems evolved over time as networks-of-networks in an institutionally fr- mented landscape. In understanding and steering the emergent behaviour of these infrastructure systems both their physical network complexity and their social n- work complexity pose a formidable challenge. On top of the socio-technical c- plexity of the electricity infrastructure and the information and telecommunication infrastructure as such, the two infrastructure systems show unprecedented mutual interdependency. Unravelling this multi-level interdependency and identifying strategies to curb the new risks and vulnerabilities it implies for the reliability of electric power services is the goal of this book. It clearly shows that technical so- tions alone will not suffice to ensure the future reliability and security of electricity infrastructure operations. Keywords Cybersecurity * infrastructure vulnerability * infrastructure depend- cies * power systems 1. 1 Infrastructures Are Critical Infrastructures are the backbone of the economy and society. Especially the network bound infrastructures operated by public utilities and network industries provide essential services that are enabling for almost every economic and social activity. M. P. C. Weijnen (*) and Z. Lukszo Technology Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, P. O. Box 5015, 2600 GA Delft, The Netherlands e-mail: M. P. C. Weijnen@tudelft. nl; Z. Lukszo@tudelft. nl G. Deconinck K. U.

Examining the reform and restructuring of the electricity industry in China, India and Russia, this book explores the way that local conditions and institutions shape the commitment, direction and speed of public utility reform in the three countries. It questions the validity of the argument that one model for electricity reforms will work in all countries, on the grounds that the industry is the same everywhere, by examining the World Bank's involvement in economic reforms in developing and transition economies. The author asks how the template developed by the World Bank has affected the three countries and seeks to explain why changes took place, how effectively they have been proceeding, and what the consequences are for these countries. In so doing, Electricity Reform in China, India and Russia challenges both the assumption behind the new reform paradigm - that market competition is the panacea for all the ills of the electricity industry - and the oft-cited belief that a single template can work in different environments. China, India and Russia have different political and economic systems and at different development stages. Xu Yi-chong uses the experience of the three countries to illustrate the complications created by the use of a single template, a policy encouraged by the World Bank, to direct reform and the need to appreciate the different problems that each had to overcome. Academics and students who are interested in comparative politics, comparative economics, public policy and particularly the reform of public utilities will find this work of great interest, as will practitioners and those who are involved in restructuring the electricity industry worldwide.

In this book well-known experts highlight cutting-edge research priorities and discuss the state of the art in the field of solid oxide fuel cells giving an update on specific subjects such as protonic conductors, interconnects, electrocatalytic and catalytic processes and modelling approaches.Fundamentals and advances in this field are illustrated to help young researchers address issues in the characterization of materials and in the analysis of processes, not often tackled in scholarly books.

This book attempts to explain what went wrong in California's restructured energy markets and what must be done to restore California's economy and build new electricity systems. The intention here is to reconcile the principles of competition and regulation. California had a severe electricity crisis for about thirteen months beginning in May of 2000. The economic consequences and political fallout that arose from this crisis persist. California's economy continues to suffer and the state's treasury is deeply in debt. The state's three investor-owned utilities were nearly financially decimated. San Diego Gas & Electric has recovered to a greater degree than the other two only because its retail prices are about three times the national average and, for a time, well above the other two IOUs in California. Southern California Edison has recently been restored to investment grade and was granted a rate increase. Pacific Gas & Electric is emerging from bankruptcy. This book discusses all of this in greater detail. The problems and consequences arising from California's ill-fated foray into electricity market restructuring could damage the state for years to come. Challenges of this nature are not new to the Golden State. In the past, as we explain here, pragmatic, not entrenched, approaches have worked best in California. If California is to relatively quickly restore its previous enviable economic vitality and recover from the damage done to tarnish its luster, pragmatic approaches must again be used.

What kinds (according to U.S. News & World Report) of clean electricity initiatives-ones that make sense on public policy and business strategy levels-could overcome the hurdles in shifting away from the entrenched electricity and petroleum-based transport industries in the United States? This book explores the tremendous opportunities of the new electricity revolution that looks to threaten the century-old business models of our existing power production infrastructure. The electricity industry, having been in place for more than 100 years, has established tremendous power and influence. But as solar- and wind-based energy businesses gain small footholds and expand their impact, the incumbent electricity businesses face fundamental challenges that threaten their century-old business models. Will technological advances and the motivation to control climate change finally effect a revolution in the electricity markets? This unique book proposes public policy- and business strategy-level initiatives that could overcome the structural impediments that prevail in the current electricity industries and predicts the important changes to come in the immediate and distant future. In The Microgrid Revolution: Business Strategies for Next-Generation Electricity, author Mahesh P. Bhave explains the current state of electricity production, identifies its widespread problems, and proposes a specific approach and particular solution to the puzzle of supplying clean energy for the 21st-century world. The introductory chapters lay the groundwork for the author's provocative thesis, and the concluding chapters elaborate on it with broad implications. By examining the subject material from the perspectives of public policy and regulatory concerns, corporate strategy, industry structure changes, innovation, and climate change as well as from a technological angle, readers from diverse industries and professional backgrounds will be able to understand how the coming electricity revolution is something we all have the power to influence. Synthesizes seemingly disparate concepts from the telecom and electricity industries with business strategy and policy and regulatory issues, allowing readers to see the tremendous opportunity at hand in clean electricity technologies Describes a novel network topology for a next-generation electricity grid Provides unique insights from the perspective of a chemical engineer who is also a faculty member of a business school and has served as a corporate strategy executive in the telecom industry

The blackout of 2003 illuminated just how dependent America is on electricity. It was not just that some 50 million people in eight states and Ontario were cut off from their televisions, microwaves, ATMs, and email. Without the electrical juice to keep their sockets alive, factory managers were forced to close production lines, city managers shut down water deliveries, grocery store clerks watched their frozen inventory slowly melt away. Economists estimated that the blackout cost Americans $5 billion even as energy analysts were predicting that a similar blackout could happen again. The catastrophe forced us to marvel at the unusual ability of sub-microscopic particles to move like waves inside a wire and cause bulbs to glow. It highlighted the complex requirements for managing the massive generators, transformers, transmission lines, and switch boxes needed to tap and deliver flowing electrons. It encouraged us to recognize the profound impact of electricity on all aspects of commerce and culture. Such events as the blackout, the Enron debacle, and the California "brownouts" also reveal the cracks in a 100-year-old industry structure that have been building ever since Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and their contemporaries first managed to harness electricity and make it available to the masses, and tycoons, such as Sam Insull and George Norris, began to concentrate financial control and political influence. From Edison to Enron traces the controversial history of this $210 billion industry--the nation's largest--showcasing the key individuals, technological innovations, corporate machinations, and political battles that have been waged over its domination. Munson maintains thattoday's technological and regulatory infrastructure, as a function of its history, is a relic that has long outlived its usefulness; he points out that two-thirds of the fuel burned to generate electricity is lost, that Americans pay roughly $100 billion too much each year for heat and power, and that environmentally unfriendly generators are the nation's largest polluters. Meanwhile, innovations in technology and business models are being blocked by entrenched monopolies. Ultimately, Munson argues that current policies and practices, including those favored by the Bush Administration, are preventing entrepreneurs from producing more efficient, healthy, and sustainable power supplies. Moreover, he presents an agenda for business and policy reforms that will stimulate economic development in the United States and around the world.