Investments and Service Quality in the electricity industry

Investment requirements for the electricity industry are soaring worldwide. The demand for new plants and networks is estimated to be particularly high in developing economies; nonetheless investment is also rising substantially in advanced economies.
This new investment wave stems in the first place from concerns for supply security and environment protection that more and more dominate the public debate. At the same time a better capacity adequacy of networks and plants is necessary for competition to work, after the recent reforms of energy markets. Finally, business and residential users of industrialized countries are increasingly concerned with service quality. This topic is closely related to the investment issue, because technical quality dimensions such as supply continuity or voltage quality depend chiefly on renewal, expansion and modernization investments.
This volume means to offer a contribution to the emerging debate on these topics. In particular the papers collected here attempt to empirically analyse arguments and results received from advanced theoretical studies, and to draw recommendations for policymakers and regulators. The three sections of the book discuss and analyse investment and service quality in the electricity industry from different perspectives: the performances of restructured industry in terms of static and dynamic efficiency; the costs of service quality, and the need for quality regulation; renewed challenges for power generation, such as the opposition of local communities to new investments, or the emerging nuclear technologies.
The volume presents the early results from research projects that have been mainly carried out at the Dipartimento di Ingegneria Gestionale (DIG) of Politecnico di Milano. Earlier versions of most papers have been presented and discussed during the DIG Lunch Seminars.

Paola Garrone is professor of Business economics, and Economics of network industries at Politecnico di Milano, Department of Mana-gement, Economics, and Industrial Engineering.