Energy, the State, and the Market: British Energy Policy since 1979

by Dieter Helm

Overview

A broad and lively survey of British energy policy since 1979. The book blends economic analysis with political and historical narrative. The author traces the way in which political pressures from the proponents of both nationalization and privatization, as well as environmentalists, have affected the development of an industry which forms a significant part of the national economy. There is a particular focus on the role of government and the influence of technological advances.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199262038
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/10/2003
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	476
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Dieter Helm is Official Fellow in Economics at new College, Oxford. He has been a member of the Department of Trade and Industry's Energy Advisory Panel since 1993 and is also Chairman of the Academic Panel of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He is a director of Oxford Economic Research Associates Ltd (OXERA) and has advised governments, regulators and major companies in the UK and internationally.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction2. The Inheritance: State Ownership, Monopoly, and Planning3. First Steps Towards the Market Philosophy4. Thatcher and Scargill: Getting Off the Labour Standard5. The Nuclear Option in the 1980s: Security of Supply and National Energy Independence6. Missed Opportunity: British Gas Privatization7. Electricity Privatization8. The Transition to Competition in the Electricity Industry9. Preparing for the End of British Coal: Privatization and Decline10. Nuclear Privatization and the End of the Nuclear Dream11. Regulatory Failure and Financial Engineering: The RECs' First Review12. Takeover Mania and Capital Market Competition13. The Break-Up of British Gas14. Domestic Competition in Gas and Electricity15. Regulatory Reform and New Labour16. Energy Sources, Diversity, and Long-Term Security of Supply17. NETA and the Consolidation of Generation18. Price Reviews Again: Asset-Sweating or Investment? 19. The Environment Moves Centre Stage20. The European Dimension21. Energy Policy Revisited22. Reinventing Energy Policy