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Regulation of transmission expansion in Argentina Part I: State ownership, reform and the Fourth Line

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Author Info
Littlechild, S.C.
Skerk, C.J.
Abstract

From 1992 to 2002, major expansions of the Argentine electricity transmission sector depended on users proposing, voting and paying for such expansions, which were then put out to competitive tender. Commentators hold this novel policy to have been unsuccessful, mainly on the ground that it substantially delayed investment in a much needed “Fourth Line” to Buenos Aire. This paper challenges this interpretation. The policy was chosen because the conventional regulatory framework could not be trusted to deliver more efficient transmission investment decisions. The delay to the Fourth Line was short. Most importantly, the Fourth Line was not economic. Hence the delay was beneficial both in deferring and in reducing costs. It indicated a need to reappraise transmission investment policy because the availability of gas had made it more economic to generate electricity near Buenos Aires than to transmit it a long distance.

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Paper provided by Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge in its series Cambridge Working Papers in Economics with number 0464.

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Length: 75
Date of creation: Nov 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cam:camdae:0464

Note: CMI, IO
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Related research
Keywords: Argentina; electricity; transmission; regulation;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
L33 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Boundaries of Public and Private Enterprise; Privatization; Contracting Out
L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
L98 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Government Policy

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Paul Joskow & Jean Tirole, 2003. "Merchant Transmission Investment," Working Papers 0304, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Bushnell, James B & Stoft, Steven E, 1996. "Electric Grid Investment under a Contract Network Regime," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 61-79, July.
  3. Thomas-Olivier Leautier, 2000. "Regulation of an Electric Power Transmission Company," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 21(4), pages 61-92.
  4. Chisari, Omar O. & Dal-Bo, Pedro & Romero, Carlos A., 2001. "High-tension electricity network expansions in Argentina: decision mechanisms and willingness-to-pay revelation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 697-715, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Bushnell, James B. & Stoft, Steven E., 1997. "Improving private incentives for electric grid investment," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1-2), pages 85-108, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Chao, Hung-Po & Peck, Stephen, 1996. "A Market Mechanism for Electric Power Transmission," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 25-59, July.
  7. Vogelsang, Ingo, 2001. "Price Regulation for Independent Transmission Companies," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 141-65, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Manuel A. Abdala & Pablo T. Spiller, 2005. "Decentralized Investment and Quality Decisions In Common-Pool Networks," Public Economics 0508004, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  9. Pollitt, M.G., 2004. "‘Electricity Reform in Argentina: Lessons for Developing Countries’," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0449, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Hogan, William W, 1992. "Contract Networks for Electric Power Transmission," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 211-42, September.
  11. Leautier, Thomas-Olivier, 2001. "Transmission Constraints and Imperfect Markets for Power," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 27-54, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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