South African electricity tariffs were relatively low compared to the rest of the world. The average South African business has for long taken this advantage for granted and is now surprised to realise that electricity is becoming an expensive and scarce commodity. The South African electricity supply industry is far more complex than the average person may think. The infrastructure supporting this industry is extremely costly; takes long to develop and build and requires careful planning and management. There are many sources of energy and many technologies for generating electricity. However, many of these do not appear quite ready to serve the needs of the industry. The manufacturing industry depends heavily on electricity. The recent power outages and tariff increases have served as a cruel reminder of this fact. The automotive sector has lost many days of production and the increasing electricity costs erode the profitability of the affected companies. The automotive suppliers and vehicle manufacturers have expressed their concerns. Indications are that some have reduced the number of employees and may even face bankruptcy. This research aims to gain the perspective of senior managers in the automotive industry regarding the impact of the increased electricity tariffs on their manufacturing costs. Naturally, all electricity consumers will be affected by this. However, this research aims to investigate the significance of the effect on the automotive industry as well as obtain some indication of which factors determine the level of dependency. Each company has to react strategically to the situation and apply those measures which are available to them. This research determines how strongly the industry feels about reacting and which strategic measures they will apply. The outcome is descriptive of the circumstances in the industry and indisputably serves as an indication of the financial impact of electricity tariff increases.

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From the late seventies through the early 1990's electric utilities were facing many different forces that caused them to invest into demand-side management programs (DSM). Roots of the growth of DSM can be found in the high inflation and energy price shocks of the late seventies and early eighties, spiraling building costs of generation, safety and environmental concerns, increased costs of new capacity with possible exhaustion of scale economies, unexpected high elasticity in the demand for electricity, and public utility commissions that sought alternatives to the resulting high rate increases. This study develops and estimates four equations that look at the more aggregate utility level impacts of DSM. The goal of two equations is to determine what factors influence utility investments in DSM and if stock market investment in utilities is affected by DSM. Two additional equations are developed to determine system level impacts of DSM on cost of and quantity demanded of electricity. To estimate these models four years of annual data were collected for 81 utilities spanning 1990-1993. These utilities have sold over 60% of all the electricity in the US and were responsible for over 80% the national spending in DSM. The DSM investment model indicated that of the major variance in DSM investment is due to the utility's regulatory environment. Both an above average regulatory climate and least-cost planning requirements had major impacts on the level of DSM investment. The cost of equity capital equation revealed that DSM expenditures had a positive impact on the valuation of utility's stock. Cost and quantity equations were estimated both individually and simultaneously. DSM expenditures seemed to have a negative impact on both average cost and quantity demanded. Although these relationships were statistically significant, the impacts were quite small. To summarize; the regulatory environment seems to have the strongest impact on the level of DSM investment; DSM spending was associated with an increased stock valuation; as expected DSM investments were found to have a negative relationship with quantity demanded; and finally DSM investment appeared to reduce the average cost.

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Bibliography: leaves 350-383 / xx, 383 leaves : ill ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dept. of Economics, University of Adelaide, 1984

Habil.-Schr. Univ. Stuttgart, 2004. / Includes bibliographical research and index.

M.Comm. / This study is to investigate the derivatives instruments used in other international deregulated electricity markets and how some of these may be used to manage risks incurred in a local Electricity Supply Industry after deregulation. To determine which of the derivatives may be used in the South African market as the most effective hedging instrument. To determine which is most effective will be determined by the contribution to the income of the market participant.

The purpose of this study is to examine a two-part hypothesis. The first part is that underdepreciation is the cause of serious financial problems which have beset investor-owned electric utilities in recent years. The second part is that depreciation adjusted for changes in the general level of prices would do much to alleviate these problems.