Pub Date : 2025-03-04DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2025.101896
Yuzhen Tian , Kim Huat Goh , Kok Fong See
This study evaluates the efficiency of China's water companies using a nonoriented meta-frontier directional distance function while simultaneously considering group heterogeneities and incorporating water loss as an undesirable output. Additionally, it performs a sensitivity analysis using different directional vectors to compare water companies' efficiency. The results reveal that water-only companies have improved in closing the efficiency gap between the meta-frontier and within-group frontiers. Water-only companies are closer to the best possible production technology than are water and sewerage companies. The sensitivity analysis indicates efforts to improve input management and address the water loss within these companies. Policy implications are discussed for reducing water loss and improving China's water companies' efficiency.
{"title":"Technical efficiency analysis of China's water sector: A technology heterogeneity perspective","authors":"Yuzhen Tian , Kim Huat Goh , Kok Fong See","doi":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101896","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101896","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study evaluates the efficiency of China's water companies using a nonoriented meta-frontier directional distance function while simultaneously considering group heterogeneities and incorporating water loss as an undesirable output. Additionally, it performs a sensitivity analysis using different directional vectors to compare water companies' efficiency. The results reveal that water-only companies have improved in closing the efficiency gap between the meta-frontier and within-group frontiers. Water-only companies are closer to the best possible production technology than are water and sewerage companies. The sensitivity analysis indicates efforts to improve input management and address the water loss within these companies. Policy implications are discussed for reducing water loss and improving China's water companies' efficiency.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23554,"journal":{"name":"Utilities Policy","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 101896"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143534443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-03-02DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2025.101912
Yue Zhang , Xin-gang Zhao , Ying Zhou , Hui Wang
Carbon Emission Trading (CET), Energy Consumption Trading (ECT), and Financial Subsidy (FS) policies are essential mechanisms for mitigating carbon emissions and play a critical role in the development of China's electricity and carbon markets. However, the extent to which CET, ECT, and FS—representing typical command-and-control and market-incentive regulatory approaches—affect carbon emission reduction in China remains inadequately explored. This study analyzes and predicts the impacts of various combinations of CET, ECT, and FS policies on carbon emission reduction by developing System Dynamics (SD) models of the energy, electricity, and carbon markets. The results indicate the following. First, the ECT policy significantly influences carbon emissions, the supply of CET, and expected CET sales and purchases. Furthermore, ECT and CET policies exhibit an interconnected effect. Second, carbon emissions increase proportionally with the combined impacts of ECT, FS, and CET policies, projected to peak in 2026–2027. By 2050, carbon intensity is expected to be 87.64% lower than in 2026. Third, the installed capacity of thermal power plants and renewable energy generation enterprises demonstrates a consistent growth trend. By 2050, the installed capacity of renewable energy generation enterprises is expected to increase by 85.06%, while their power generation capacity is anticipated to rise by 142%.
{"title":"Impact of combined environmental policies on carbon emission reduction: A system dynamics analysis","authors":"Yue Zhang , Xin-gang Zhao , Ying Zhou , Hui Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101912","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101912","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Carbon Emission Trading (CET), Energy Consumption Trading (ECT), and Financial Subsidy (FS) policies are essential mechanisms for mitigating carbon emissions and play a critical role in the development of China's electricity and carbon markets. However, the extent to which CET, ECT, and FS—representing typical command-and-control and market-incentive regulatory approaches—affect carbon emission reduction in China remains inadequately explored. This study analyzes and predicts the impacts of various combinations of CET, ECT, and FS policies on carbon emission reduction by developing System Dynamics (SD) models of the energy, electricity, and carbon markets. The results indicate the following. First, the ECT policy significantly influences carbon emissions, the supply of CET, and expected CET sales and purchases. Furthermore, ECT and CET policies exhibit an interconnected effect. Second, carbon emissions increase proportionally with the combined impacts of ECT, FS, and CET policies, projected to peak in 2026–2027. By 2050, carbon intensity is expected to be 87.64% lower than in 2026. Third, the installed capacity of thermal power plants and renewable energy generation enterprises demonstrates a consistent growth trend. By 2050, the installed capacity of renewable energy generation enterprises is expected to increase by 85.06%, while their power generation capacity is anticipated to rise by 142%.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23554,"journal":{"name":"Utilities Policy","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 101912"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-03-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143528790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The planet is at a critical juncture in addressing the ongoing climatic crisis, with increasing calls to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations to stabilise global climate change. A fundamental shift from fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy (RE) systems involves technological development. However, the mechanics of renewable energy funding are poorly understood, slowing the financing rate for renewable energy technology (RETs). This study explores the efficiency of RETs (hydropower, wind, solar, and biomass) and their role in determining the public Renewable R&D investments (RRDI) for CO2 reduction in G7 countries. The analysis focuses on the carbon efficiency of disaggregated energy production technologies, including hydropower, wind, solar, and biomass, as mediators between R&D funding and carbon emissions. The study introduces GDP per capita (GDPpc) as the sequential-mediator to examine the economic efficiency of these technologies. The proposed conceptual framework is supported by the multi-level perspective socio-technical transition theory. The G7 countries' annual data from 2000 to 2021 is used to evaluate the hypotheses. Multiple regression using SPSS Process-Macro was performed using bootstrap analysis to estimate robustness. The findings indicate that public R&D funding significantly improves the carbon-efficiency of G7 countries RETs. However, the technological interaction with GDPpc is unfavourable in increasing CO2 emissions, revealing that RETs are carbon-efficient but not economically efficient. G7 countries require policies to improve the profitability of RETs by incentivising demand-side technologies. The novelty of this study is its examination of the technological and economic effectiveness of the RETs in the G7 using a management conceptual framework, which offers country-specific recommendations for R&D investment portfolios.
{"title":"Renewable R&D investments and carbon emissions in G7 countries: The mediating roles of technology and economic efficiency","authors":"Rajitha Rajendran , Jayaraman Krishnaswamy , Nava Subramaniam , P.K. Viswanathan","doi":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101898","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101898","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The planet is at a critical juncture in addressing the ongoing climatic crisis, with increasing calls to reduce atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations to stabilise global climate change. A fundamental shift from fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy (RE) systems involves technological development. However, the mechanics of renewable energy funding are poorly understood, slowing the financing rate for renewable energy technology (RETs). This study explores the efficiency of RETs (hydropower, wind, solar, and biomass) and their role in determining the public Renewable R&D investments (RRDI) for CO2 reduction in G7 countries. The analysis focuses on the carbon efficiency of disaggregated energy production technologies, including hydropower, wind, solar, and biomass, as mediators between R&D funding and carbon emissions. The study introduces GDP per capita (GDPpc) as the sequential-mediator to examine the economic efficiency of these technologies. The proposed conceptual framework is supported by the multi-level perspective socio-technical transition theory. The G7 countries' annual data from 2000 to 2021 is used to evaluate the hypotheses. Multiple regression using SPSS Process-Macro was performed using bootstrap analysis to estimate robustness. The findings indicate that public R&D funding significantly improves the carbon-efficiency of G7 countries RETs. However, the technological interaction with GDPpc is unfavourable in increasing CO<sub>2</sub> emissions, revealing that RETs are carbon-efficient but not economically efficient. G7 countries require policies to improve the profitability of RETs by incentivising demand-side technologies. The novelty of this study is its examination of the technological and economic effectiveness of the RETs in the G7 using a management conceptual framework, which offers country-specific recommendations for R&D investment portfolios.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23554,"journal":{"name":"Utilities Policy","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 101898"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143463911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-20DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2025.101897
Farhana Nur Rahman , Kanchan Kumar Sen , Shamal Chandra Karmaker , Bidyut Baran Saha
This study investigates the impact of good governance on human development, focusing on the mediating role of energy justice and analyzing data from 62 low- and lower-middle-income (LLMI) countries from 2001 to 2020. Using FE and RE models, CCR, and FMOLS approaches, the findings demonstrate that good governance significantly enhances human development and fosters equitable access to energy. The Sobel test confirms that energy justice mediates the relationship between human development and good governance. This study provides valuable insights for policymakers in LLMI nations, outlining how good governance can accelerate human development and contribute to achieving the SDGs.
{"title":"Good governance and energy justice: Pathways to human development","authors":"Farhana Nur Rahman , Kanchan Kumar Sen , Shamal Chandra Karmaker , Bidyut Baran Saha","doi":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101897","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101897","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the impact of good governance on human development, focusing on the mediating role of energy justice and analyzing data from 62 low- and lower-middle-income (LLMI) countries from 2001 to 2020. Using FE and RE models, CCR, and FMOLS approaches, the findings demonstrate that good governance significantly enhances human development and fosters equitable access to energy. The Sobel test confirms that energy justice mediates the relationship between human development and good governance. This study provides valuable insights for policymakers in LLMI nations, outlining how good governance can accelerate human development and contribute to achieving the SDGs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23554,"journal":{"name":"Utilities Policy","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 101897"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143444681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-20DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2025.101900
S. van Schendel , I.A.M. Varenhorst
{"title":"A time aggregation approach for reducing identifiability in household energy data","authors":"S. van Schendel , I.A.M. Varenhorst","doi":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101900","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101900","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23554,"journal":{"name":"Utilities Policy","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 101900"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143455009","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-19DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2025.101902
Yan Xu, Xinyu Zhang, Kai Wang
This paper considers the government, electric power enterprises, and digital service providers as the primary stakeholders in the digital transformation of the electric power sector and constructs a game model to explore paths and strategies in the evolutionary process. The results show that the synergistic income between electric power enterprises and digital service providers significantly impacts whether the enterprises undergo digital transformation. The intensity of government subsidies and the severity of penalties influence the willingness to participate in the digital transformation and directly impact cooperative relationships. Cost is the fundamental reason for restricting the digital transformation of electric power enterprises.
{"title":"Stakeholder interaction in the digital transformation of China's electric power sector: An evolutionary game model","authors":"Yan Xu, Xinyu Zhang, Kai Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101902","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101902","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper considers the government, electric power enterprises, and digital service providers as the primary stakeholders in the digital transformation of the electric power sector and constructs a game model to explore paths and strategies in the evolutionary process. The results show that the synergistic income between electric power enterprises and digital service providers significantly impacts whether the enterprises undergo digital transformation. The intensity of government subsidies and the severity of penalties influence the willingness to participate in the digital transformation and directly impact cooperative relationships. Cost is the fundamental reason for restricting the digital transformation of electric power enterprises.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23554,"journal":{"name":"Utilities Policy","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 101902"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143437806","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-18DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2025.101899
Franky BA Kogueda , Nassibou Bassongui , Marius Bendoma
This article assesses the impact of independent regulation on electricity supply, using data from 40 Sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2000 to 2021. Based on the propensity score matching method, we estimate the average effect of independent regulation. The results show that independent regulation positively impacts electricity generation, access to electricity, and service demand coverage. However, we find that independent regulatory authorities have no significant effect on electricity losses. A heterogeneity analysis by regional sub-blocks highlights that independent regulation enhances the allocative efficiency of electricity services in rural areas, particularly in countries experiencing social instability and insecurity. Conversely, independent regulatory authorities do not significantly affect the productive efficiency of electricity operators. These findings support the development of regulatory frameworks through the establishment of independent regulatory bodies, rural electrification initiatives, and competition authorities.
{"title":"Do independent regulatory authorities impact electricity supply in Sub-Saharan Africa?","authors":"Franky BA Kogueda , Nassibou Bassongui , Marius Bendoma","doi":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101899","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101899","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article assesses the impact of independent regulation on electricity supply, using data from 40 Sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2000 to 2021. Based on the propensity score matching method, we estimate the average effect of independent regulation. The results show that independent regulation positively impacts electricity generation, access to electricity, and service demand coverage. However, we find that independent regulatory authorities have no significant effect on electricity losses. A heterogeneity analysis by regional sub-blocks highlights that independent regulation enhances the allocative efficiency of electricity services in rural areas, particularly in countries experiencing social instability and insecurity. Conversely, independent regulatory authorities do not significantly affect the productive efficiency of electricity operators. These findings support the development of regulatory frameworks through the establishment of independent regulatory bodies, rural electrification initiatives, and competition authorities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23554,"journal":{"name":"Utilities Policy","volume":"94 ","pages":"Article 101899"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143437808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-13DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2025.101895
Antonio Massarutto, Stefania Troiano
{"title":"Maintaining water service quality in the face of climate change: Can stated-preference analysis support priority setting?","authors":"Antonio Massarutto, Stefania Troiano","doi":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101895","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101895","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23554,"journal":{"name":"Utilities Policy","volume":"93 ","pages":"Article 101895"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143402943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-01DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2025.101892
Ricardo Messias , Pedro M.S. Carvalho , Jorge Sousa
Flexibility, defined as the ability to change load demand and generation injection over time, is touted as a key strategy to overcoming the challenges of increased net-load variability that come with higher penetration of variable renewable energy sources (VRES). Increased net-load variability places greater demands on the electrical grid, whose development pace is targeted as a bottleneck to achieving a decarbonized energy system. Policymakers and regulators want to mitigate the limitations in grid development by compelling distribution system operators (DSO) to consider the locally available distributed flexibility resources (DFR) as virtual capacity providers when planning the expansion of the distribution networks' physical assets. This analysis focuses on flexibility from the DSO perspective, trying to set an end-to-end epistemological common ground for policymakers, regulators and DSOs. It analyses the current public policy framework, setting the conventional planning objectives as a basis to understand the flexibility boundaries, and proposes an optimal capacity planning methodology where flexibility is taken as a new decision dimension, whose value can be obtained using a counterfactual approach, to be used in flexibility markets.
{"title":"Hybrid distribution network planning to incorporate virtual capacity from distributed flexibility resources","authors":"Ricardo Messias , Pedro M.S. Carvalho , Jorge Sousa","doi":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101892","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jup.2025.101892","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Flexibility, defined as the ability to change load demand and generation injection over time, is touted as a key strategy to overcoming the challenges of increased net-load variability that come with higher penetration of variable renewable energy sources (VRES). Increased net-load variability places greater demands on the electrical grid, whose development pace is targeted as a bottleneck to achieving a decarbonized energy system. Policymakers and regulators want to mitigate the limitations in grid development by compelling distribution system operators (DSO) to consider the locally available distributed flexibility resources (DFR) as virtual capacity providers when planning the expansion of the distribution networks' physical assets. This analysis focuses on flexibility from the DSO perspective, trying to set an end-to-end epistemological common ground for policymakers, regulators and DSOs. It analyses the current public policy framework, setting the conventional planning objectives as a basis to understand the flexibility boundaries, and proposes an optimal capacity planning methodology where flexibility is taken as a new decision dimension, whose value can be obtained using a counterfactual approach, to be used in flexibility markets.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23554,"journal":{"name":"Utilities Policy","volume":"93 ","pages":"Article 101892"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143099105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-02-01DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2024.101839
Ditao Duan , Roza Poursoleiman
{"title":"Retraction notice to Modified teaching-learning-based optimization by orthogonal learning for optimal design of an electric vehicle charging station [Utilities Policy 72 (2021) 101253]","authors":"Ditao Duan , Roza Poursoleiman","doi":"10.1016/j.jup.2024.101839","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jup.2024.101839","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":23554,"journal":{"name":"Utilities Policy","volume":"92 ","pages":"Article 101839"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143158127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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