IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v36y2008i5p1697-1711.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From state monopoly to renewable portfolio: Restructuring China's electric utility

Author

Listed:
  • Ma, Chunbo
  • He, Lining

Abstract

Deregulation and decentralization in the electricity sector have thrived worldwide since the early 1980s. China also started restructuring its electricity industry since the mid-1980s. The reform shares many common features with restructuring practices in other countries and exhibits some unique characteristics as well. To some extent, two features, namely governmental administrative departments' dual role of government and business inherited from a highly centralized planned economy, and the coal-intensive nature of power generation, has determined many aspects of the evolution of China's electric power sector. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive account of the process with some emphasis on recent developments. We also identify some of the features that are similar to electricity market reforms in other countries and, most importantly, those that characterize the uniqueness of the restructuring practices in China's electricity industry through investigating the administrative framework, price and investment mechanisms, and associated legislation and policy settings at each of the five stages in the evolution of the electric utility sector. The paper concludes with a discussion and summary of some generic characteristics and remaining challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Ma, Chunbo & He, Lining, 2008. "From state monopoly to renewable portfolio: Restructuring China's electric utility," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 1697-1711, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:36:y:2008:i:5:p:1697-1711
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301-4215(08)00008-6
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Duckett, Jane, 2001. "Bureaucrats in Business, Chinese-Style: The Lessons of Market Reform and State Entrepreneurialism in the People's Republic of China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 23-37, January.
    2. Noureddine Berrah & Ranjit Lamech & Zhao Zhao, 2001. "Fostering Competition in China's Power Markets," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13909.
    3. Xu, Shaofeng & Chen, Wenying, 2006. "The reform of electricity power sector in the PR of China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(16), pages 2455-2465, November.
    4. Blackman, Allen & Wu, Xun, 1999. "Foreign direct investment in china's power sector: trends, benefits and barriers," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(12), pages 695-711, November.
    5. Lalor, R. Peter & García, Hernán, 1996. "Reshaping power markets: Lessons from South America," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 63-71, March.
    6. Thillai Rajan, A., 2000. "Power sector reform in Orissa: an ex-post analysis of the causal factors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(10), pages 657-669, August.
    7. Hogan, William W, 2002. "Electricity Market Restructuring: Reforms of Reforms," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 103-132, January.
    8. R. Peter Lalor & Hernán García, 1996. "Reshaping Power Markets-Lessons from Chile and Argentina," World Bank Publications - Reports 11617, The World Bank Group.
    9. Paul L. Joskow, 2006. "Markets for Power in the United States: An Interim Assessment," The Energy Journal, , vol. 27(1), pages 1-36, January.
    10. Zhang, Chi & Shukla, P.R. & Victor, David G. & Heller, Thomas C. & Biswas, Debashish & Nag, Tirthankar, 2006. "Baselines for carbon emissions in the Indian and Chinese power sectors: Implications for international carbon trading," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(14), pages 1900-1917, September.
    11. Hugh Rudnick & Juan-Pablo Montero, 2002. "Second Generation Electricity Reforms in Latin America and the California Paradigm," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 159-172, June.
    12. Cherni, Judith A. & Kentish, Joanna, 2007. "Renewable energy policy and electricity market reforms in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3616-3629, July.
    13. Graus, W.H.J. & Voogt, M. & Worrell, E., 2007. "International comparison of energy efficiency of fossil power generation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3936-3951, July.
    14. Magali Delmas & Michael V. Russo & Maria J. Montes‐Sancho, 2007. "Deregulation and environmental differentiation in the electric utility industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 189-209, February.
    15. Carlos Rufín & U. Srinivasa Rangan & Rajesh Kumar, 2003. "The Changing Role of the State in the Electricity Industry in Brazil, China, and India," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(4), pages 649-675, October.
    16. Li, Binsheng & Dorian, James P, 1995. "Change in China's power sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(7), pages 619-626, July.
    17. Mendonca, Augusto F. & Dahl, Carol, 1999. "The Brazilian electrical system reform," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 73-83, February.
    18. Jamasb, T., 2002. "Reform and Regulation of the Electricity Sectors in Developing Countries," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0226, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    19. Andrews-Speed, Philip & Dow, Stephen, 2000. "Reform of China's electric power industry Challenges facing the government," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 335-347, May.
    20. Ryan Wiser & Kevin Porter & Robert Grace, 2005. "Evaluating Experience with Renewables Portfolio Standards in the United States," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 237-263, April.
    21. Shiwei, S. & Zhengyong, L. & Berrah, N. & Tenenbaum, B. & Jianping, Z., 1997. "China: Power Sector Regulation in a Socialist Market Economy," World Bank - Discussion Papers 361, World Bank.
    22. Timothy Brennan & Karen Palmer & Salvador Martinez, 2002. "Implementing Electricity Restructuring," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 22(1), pages 99-132, June.
    23. Wirtshafter, Robert M. & Shih, Ed, 1990. "Decentralization of China's electricity sector: Is small beautiful?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 505-512, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gnansounou, Edgard & Dong, Jun, 2004. "Opportunity for inter-regional integration of electricity markets: the case of Shandong and Shanghai in East China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(15), pages 1737-1751, October.
    2. Hengyun Ma & Les Oxley & John Gibson, 2009. "China’s Energy Situation and Its Implications in the New Millennium," Working Papers in Economics 09/01, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.
    3. Ma, Hengyun & Oxley, Les & Gibson, John, 2009. "Gradual reforms and the emergence of energy market in China: Evidence from tests for convergence of energy prices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4834-4850, November.
    4. Ma, Hengyun & Oxley, Les & Gibson, John, 2009. "China's energy situation in the new millennium," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(8), pages 1781-1799, October.
    5. Kahrl, Fredrich & Williams, Jim & Jianhua, Ding & Junfeng, Hu, 2011. "Challenges to China's transition to a low carbon electricity system," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 4032-4041, July.
    6. Zhang, Yin-Fang & Gao, Ping, 2016. "Integrating environmental considerations into economic regulation of China's electricity sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 62-71.
    7. Gabriele, Alberto, 2004. "Policy alternatives in reforming energy utilities in developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 1319-1337, July.
    8. Kahrl, Fredrich & Williams, James H. & Hu, Junfeng, 2013. "The political economy of electricity dispatch reform in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 361-369.
    9. Lin, Jiang & Kahrl, Fredrich & Yuan, Jiahai & Chen, Qixin & Liu, Xu, 2019. "Economic and carbon emission impacts of electricity market transition in China: A case study of Guangdong Province," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1093-1107.
    10. Ma, Hengyun & Oxley, Les, 2010. "The integration of major fuel source markets in China: Evidence from panel cointegration tests," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 1139-1146, September.
    11. Du, Limin & Mao, Jie & Shi, Jinchuan, 2009. "Assessing the impact of regulatory reforms on China's electricity generation industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 712-720, February.
    12. Zhou, Kaile & Yang, Shanlin, 2015. "Demand side management in China: The context of China’s power industry reform," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 954-965.
    13. Alberto Gabriele, 2004. "Policy Alternatives In Reforming Power Utilities In Developing Countries: A Critical Survey," UNCTAD Discussion Papers 168, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    14. Wang, Feng & Yin, Haitao & Li, Shoude, 2010. "China's renewable energy policy: Commitments and challenges," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1872-1878, April.
    15. Wang, Bing, 2007. "An imbalanced development of coal and electricity industries in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 4959-4968, October.
    16. Erdogdu, Erkan, 2013. "Essays on Electricity Market Reforms: A Cross-Country Applied Approach," MPRA Paper 47139, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Hübler, Michael, 2011. "Technology diffusion under contraction and convergence: A CGE analysis of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 131-142, January.
    18. Richard O’Neill & Emily Fisher & Benjamin Hobbs & Ross Baldick, 2008. "Towards a complete real-time electricity market design," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 220-250, December.
    19. Xie, Yanhua & Weng, Qihao, 2016. "Detecting urban-scale dynamics of electricity consumption at Chinese cities using time-series DMSP-OLS (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-Operational Linescan System) nighttime light imageries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 177-189.
    20. Zhang, Hao, 2019. "Antinomic policy-making under the fragmented authoritarianism: Regulating China’s electricity sector through the energy-climate-environment dimension," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 162-169.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:36:y:2008:i:5:p:1697-1711. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.