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This dissertation investigates two broad management accounting questions in the context of electric utility industry: How do regulators for electricity industry use the information generated from accounting systems to make pricing decisions? What are the economic consequences of these decisions? In Chapter 2, I review regulatory reforms and discuss existing issues of using DEA models for efficiency benchmarking in four aspects. Suggestions are given for improving the use of DEA models based on the review and discussion. In Chapter 3, I empirically investigate the effect of incentive regulation with DEA benchmarking on operational efficiency using a panel of electricity distribution firms in Brazil. In Chapter 4, I examine the effect of restructuring and retail competition on cost reduction using a sample of US investor-owned electric utilities. The effects of privatization, industrial restructuring, incentive regulation and benchmarking are effectively disentangled from one another using the research setting in Brazil and US electricity industry. In Chapter 5, I combine the idea of activity based costing and data envelopment analysis to further develop a detailed benchmarking model for incentive regulation. / Business Administration/Accounting

Power systems all over the world advance towards the direction of deregulation in the past few years. Introducing competition mechanism and the principle of market rules in deregulation. Utility companies will face unprecedented changes and challenges. Taiwan power company is also working on the deregulation direction with a competitive environment opened up, it will improve the scientific and technological levels and the service quality of electricity. Load management functions as the marginal price of electricity is predicted. Consumers can get Real-Time Pricing information determine their own buying strategy. One most representative deregulation example in U.S.A. is the PJM(Pennsylvania¡BNew Jersey¡BMaryland)system combining generating, transmitting, distribution and sales of electricity. It offers the information of real-time power supply and is one of the cases in the world. Historical data in the thesis comes from PJM. Artificial Neural Network was designed to the Locational Marginal Price(LMP), considering the factors such as temperature and other relevant data from deregulation with the introduction of various parameters in forecasting, and the use of week as a counting base. LMP will be forecasted. The forecasted results will be to check the accuracy and performance with initial data.

Thesis (MTech (Quality))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / The diffusion of a Quality Management System (QMS) to improve business performance depends upon the quality management strategy used. The aim of Eskom’s QMS strategy was to create a sustainable quality drive throughout the company to improve customer and stakeholder satisfaction. This research project’s objective is to determine how the diffusion of a QMS can improve the electricity supply industry in the Western Cape division of the electricity sector in South Africa. The key research objectives within the research study are:  to assess what effect a QMS has on a sustainable long-term solution for energy supply;  to assess how a QMS contributes to the establishment of world class processes and practices;  to determine how a QMS affects quality culture;  to determine what factors of a QMS play a role in a continual improvement process, and  to determine what barriers affect a sustainable QMS implementation. The research question is: “how can the diffusion of a QMS bring improvement to the electricity supply industry?” A quantitative research methodology was employed in the study. The responses to a survey questionnaire were analysed and conclusions were drawn. The research finding is that diffusion of a QMS improves the electricity industry by positively affecting attitudes towards the challenge of securing a sustainable long-term energy supply, improving processes and practices, engendering a quality culture and contributing towards continual improvement. At the same time, certain barriers to the implementation of a sustainable QMS were identified.

O coeficiente beta, definido no contexto do modelo de avaliação de ativos denominado Capital Asset Pricing Model, tem sido amplamente utilizado no Setor Elétrico Brasileiro. Sua aplicação tem sido importante não apenas no âmbito das revisões tarifárias conduzidas pelo órgão regulador, mas também para análise das empresas do setor pelos investidores em mercado de capitais. Embora a aplicação do modelo CAPM seja simples, ele é construído sobre hipóteses rigorosas, que nem sempre são observáveis no mercado real, principalmente em países emergentes. Inserido no referencial teórico deste Modelo, o presente trabalho tem como o objetivo analisar a utilização do coeficiente beta no setor elétrico brasileiro, identificando potenciais distorções que decorram de sua aplicação. Adicionalmente, este trabalho busca analisar o comportamento desse coeficiente de mercado ao longo do período de 1999 a 2007, identificando possíveis tendências. Para isso, lança-se mão de dados que são amplamente utilizados pelos agentes do mercado de capitais, oriundos de uma amostra de empresas que, por possuírem dados disponibilizados em bolsa de valores tornam viável gerar este coeficiente. Das análises realizadas é possível concluir que o coeficiente beta obtido com dados do mercado brasileiro apresentou valores bem próximos aos coeficientes obtidos em mercados desenvolvidos. Também foi possível constatar que os segmentos de distribuição e geração apresentam, no mercado brasileiro, betas desalavancados de mesma ordem de grandeza entre si, embora o segmento de geração seja mais concorrencial e, no de distribuição, predomine um contexto de monopólio natural. / The coefficient beta, defined in the context of the Capital Asset Pricing Model, has been widely applied within the Brazilian electricity industry. Its application has been conducted not only by the regulatory authority regarding tariff review of regulated electricity concessionaires, but also largely used by investors in Brazilian the capital market. Although the CAPM tool is a straight forward one, the Model itself was built under strict assumptions which are not often found in the real world, mainly in developing countries. Departing from this theoretical framework, this master thesis analyses the coefficient beta within the Brazilian electricity industry, identifying potential distortions derived from its application. Additionally, this work examines the coefficient beta behavior throughout 1999 up to 2007, pointing possible trends. For generating the beta coefficient, it is used the same sort of data usually selected by market investors, applied to a set of select companies belonging to the Brazilian electricity industry that have their information publicly disclosed in the financial and stock markets. The result of the analysis pointed that the coefficient beta generated for the Brazilian companies analyzed did not differ much form those of companies belonging to the electricity industry of developed countries. It was also perceived that the segments of electricity distribution and electricity generation presented unlevered betas of the same magnitude although generating companies operates in a competitive market and distribution concessionaires face predominantly a natural monopoly context.

This dissertation assesses the evolving structure and performance of the electricity supply industry (ESI) in Queensland following the restructuring and deregulation process undertaken in 1997 and 1998 respectively. This microeconomic reform process essentially replaced a vertically integrated electricity monopoly with an oligopolistic electricity market. In theory at least, restructuring a monopoly generator, and deregulating the product and capacity markets, should lead to lower electricity production costs, more cost-reflective wholesale electricity prices, and a generation plant expansion path that reflects the least-cost, optimal mix of baseload, intermediate and peaking technologies. In economic terms, the deregulated electricity market should deliver improvements in productive, allocative and dynamic efficiency. However, a likely side effect is a deterioration of ESI environmental performance, since the minimization of production costs are of paramount importance in a competitive market. This research has utilized historic data, direct comparisons to southern market outcomes, economic theory and the development and adaptation of a suite of economic cost and generation system simulation models to test the stated hypotheses of expected improvements in productive, allocative and dynamic efficiency, and a deterioration in environmental performance. This research has not had the availability of extensive historical market data upon which to draw. When research first commenced, less than six months of historical market data were available. At the time of completion of this dissertation, only three full financial years of data existed. Consequently, this research necessarily relied upon complex simulation models of economic cost and electricity generation systems, coupled with economic theory, to forecast market outcomes. The short history of market data is examined and tentative conclusions are drawn from this, which are integrated with the outputs of the simulation models. Simulation experiments have been conducted to identify the theoretically optimal market outcome, that is, the least-cost generation plant mix that would best meet the Queensland load curve, subject to a reliability constraint. This forms the 'base case', and represents that which would reasonably be expected to emerge under a centrally planned monopoly regime with a welfare maximization objective, characterised by perfect information and zero political intervention. Such a scenario establishes efficient generation system costs, prices and plant capacity mix. The 'base case' or centrally planned scenario is contrasted with forecast 'market scenarios'. Performance of the generation system is explored under specified scenarios using the economic cost and generation system simulation models, publicly available information about committed and expected future investment in plant capacity, incumbent generator trends and behavioural assumptions consistent with oligopolistic market theories. The analysis indicates that productive efficiency, or cost efficiency, is enhanced as a result of restructuring the monopoly generator into competing entities since competitive pressures force the generators to reduce costs in order to survive. Allocative efficiency, or price efficiency, declined during the first three years of the market, with all generators earning positive economic rents. The presence of these economic rents, coupled with conventional oligopolistic strategies associated with the theory of barriers to entry, resulted in a rush to commission new baseload capacity. Not surprisingly, dynamic efficiency appears to be deteriorating, with the market-induced capacity augmentation proving to be far greater than that considered optimal. Modelling results indicate that the oversupply of baseload capacity is expected to place considerable downward pressure on electricity prices, and thus allocative efficiency is forecast to improve in the intermediate run, much to the benefit of electricity consumers. In the long run, the oversupply of baseload capacity and subsequent low market price can be expected to frustrate the timely entry of new peaking or intermediate plant capacity, which will ultimately be required by the Queensland ESI given the strong electricity demand growth. What does appear to be emerging is a five or seven year electricity generation business cycle. Modelling results from this research also point to alarming environmental implications, with the general levels of greenhouse gas emissions of the electricity system increasing. While system thermal efficiency is declining, the rush of new, low-cost coal-fired capacity represents an inferior outcome to the alternative (i.e. efficient combined cycle gas plant) because the volume of greenhouse emissions is markedly higher. The outlook for Queensland's greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, in the absence of coincident environmental policies, is that they will more than double between the 1990 emission baseline, and the commencement of the Kyoto commitment period in 2008. Some clear warnings emerge from this research. The structure and performance of an ESI prior to deregulation is important if microeconomic reforms are to be successful. Too little generation capacity or transmission capacity is unlikely to provide a robust foundation for wholesale market implementation. To ensure that adequate competition will prevail, it will be necessary to restructure monopoly generators. The existing ESI needs to be characterised by ‘inefficiency’ if gains from trade are to be capitalized. An efficient centrally planned ESI is unlikely to benefit greatly from deregulation, particularly given that implementing a product market is likely to be a costly process. And finally, competitive markets deliver lowest cost, which is usually inconsistent with the most environmentally responsible outcome. As a result, if the environment is considered a policy imperative, it will be critical that ESI deregulation be complemented by coincident environmental regulations.

Orientador: Edgard Antonio Pereira / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T06:22:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Laplane_Marcelo_D.pdf: 1088131 bytes, checksum: 6b8eb4bbde7af969af761b57d5b2debc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: Na presente dissertação o setor elétrico é utilizado como mote para discutir e caracterizar o conceito de ¿custo regulatório¿. Ademais, realiza-se aqui uma tentativa de medi-lo através da avaliação da comparação entre a rentabilidade das distribuidoras de energia elétrica e o custo de oportunidade de seus investimentos. Para contextualizar o problema é feita uma descrição das características da indústria elétrica, dos mecanismos de regulação de monopólios e de seus limites. Os resultados encontrados mostram que o conceito convencional de ¿custo regulatório¿ deve ser relativizado e que um mercado bem regulado pode funcionar melhor do que um desregulado / Abstract: Not informed. / Doutorado / Mestre em Ciências Econômicas

O coeficiente beta, definido no contexto do modelo de avaliação de ativos denominado Capital Asset Pricing Model, tem sido amplamente utilizado no Setor Elétrico Brasileiro. Sua aplicação tem sido importante não apenas no âmbito das revisões tarifárias conduzidas pelo órgão regulador, mas também para análise das empresas do setor pelos investidores em mercado de capitais. Embora a aplicação do modelo CAPM seja simples, ele é construído sobre hipóteses rigorosas, que nem sempre são observáveis no mercado real, principalmente em países emergentes. Inserido no referencial teórico deste Modelo, o presente trabalho tem como o objetivo analisar a utilização do coeficiente beta no setor elétrico brasileiro, identificando potenciais distorções que decorram de sua aplicação. Adicionalmente, este trabalho busca analisar o comportamento desse coeficiente de mercado ao longo do período de 1999 a 2007, identificando possíveis tendências. Para isso, lança-se mão de dados que são amplamente utilizados pelos agentes do mercado de capitais, oriundos de uma amostra de empresas que, por possuírem dados disponibilizados em bolsa de valores tornam viável gerar este coeficiente. Das análises realizadas é possível concluir que o coeficiente beta obtido com dados do mercado brasileiro apresentou valores bem próximos aos coeficientes obtidos em mercados desenvolvidos. Também foi possível constatar que os segmentos de distribuição e geração apresentam, no mercado brasileiro, betas desalavancados de mesma ordem de grandeza entre si, embora o segmento de geração seja mais concorrencial e, no de distribuição, predomine um contexto de monopólio natural. / The coefficient beta, defined in the context of the Capital Asset Pricing Model, has been widely applied within the Brazilian electricity industry. Its application has been conducted not only by the regulatory authority regarding tariff review of regulated electricity concessionaires, but also largely used by investors in Brazilian the capital market. Although the CAPM tool is a straight forward one, the Model itself was built under strict assumptions which are not often found in the real world, mainly in developing countries. Departing from this theoretical framework, this master thesis analyses the coefficient beta within the Brazilian electricity industry, identifying potential distortions derived from its application. Additionally, this work examines the coefficient beta behavior throughout 1999 up to 2007, pointing possible trends. For generating the beta coefficient, it is used the same sort of data usually selected by market investors, applied to a set of select companies belonging to the Brazilian electricity industry that have their information publicly disclosed in the financial and stock markets. The result of the analysis pointed that the coefficient beta generated for the Brazilian companies analyzed did not differ much form those of companies belonging to the electricity industry of developed countries. It was also perceived that the segments of electricity distribution and electricity generation presented unlevered betas of the same magnitude although generating companies operates in a competitive market and distribution concessionaires face predominantly a natural monopoly context.

L’optimisation de la planification de la maintenance des équipements de production d’électricité est une question importante pour éviter des temps d’arrêt inutiles et des coûts opérationnels excessifs. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons une classification multidimensionnelle des études de Recherche Opérationnelle portant sur ce sujet. Le secteur des énergies renouvelables étant en pleine expansion, nous présentons et discutons ensuite d’un problème de maintenance de parcs éoliens terrestres. Le problème est traité sur un horizon à court terme et l’objectif est de construire un planning de maintenance qui maximise le revenu lié à production d’électricité des éoliennes tout en prenant en compte des prévisions de vent et en gérant l’affectation de techniciens. Nous présentons plusieurs modélisations du problème basées sur la programmation linéaire. Nous décrivons aussi une recherche à grands voisinages basée sur la programmation par contraintes.Cette méthode heuristique donne des résultats probants.Nous résolvons ensuite le problème avec une approche exacte basée sur une décomposition du problème. Dans cette méthode, nous construisons successivement des plannings de maintenance optimisés et rejetons, à l’aide de coupes spécifiques, ceux pour lesquels la disponibilité des techniciens est insuffisante. Les résultats suggèrent que cette méthode est la mieux adaptée pour ce problème. Enfin, pour prendre en compte l’incertitude inhérente à la prévision de vitesses de vent, nous proposons une approche robuste dans laquelle nous prenons des décisions garantissant la réalisabilité du planning de maintenance et le meilleur revenu pour les pires scénarios de vent. / Efficiently scheduling maintenance operations of generating units is key to prevent unnecessary downtime and excessive operational costs. In this work, we first present a multidimensional classification of the body of work dealing with the optimization of the maintenance scheduling in the operations research literature. Motivated by the recent emergence of the renewable energy sector as an Environmental priority to produce low-carbon power electricity, we introduce and discuss a challenging Maintenance scheduling problem rising in the onshore wind industry. Addressing the problem on a short-term horizon, the objective is to find a maintenance plan that maximizes the revenue generated by the electricity production of the turbines while taking into account wind predictions, multiple task execution modes, and technician-to-task assignment constraints. We start by presenting several integer linear Programming formulations of the problem. We then describe a constraint programming-based large neighborhood search which proves to be an efficient heuristic solution method. We then design an exact branch-and-check approach based on a decomposition of the problem. In this method, we successively build maintenance plans while discarding – using problem-specific cuts – those that cannot be performed by the technicians. The results suggest that this method is the best suited to the problem. To tackle the Inherent uncertainty on the wind speed, we also propose a robust approach in which we aim to take risk-averse decisions regarding the revenue associated with the maintenance plan and its feasibility.

Inledning Traditionell årlig budgetering har länge varit ett välanvänt och pålitligt styrmedel inom verksamhetsstyrning. Under de senaste fem åren har marknadsklimatet förändrats med ökade omvärldsrelaterade osäkerhetsfaktorer som konsekvens av krig och inflation. Förändringar gällande förutsättningarna på elmarknaden har också påverkat företagen inom elbranschen. Under flera decennier har kritik framförts i tidigare forskning mot den traditionella budgeteringen när det gäller dess lämplighet i osäkra föränderliga miljöer. Kritiken blir åter aktuell då det kan krävas kompletteringar av alternativa styrverktyg för att lyckas navigera verksamheten i osäkra marknadsmiljöer. Även de alternativa styrmedlen har sina utmaningar när det kommer till att framgångsrikt implementera och komplettera den traditionella budgeteringen. Det finns även förespråkare som hävdar att den traditionella budgeteringen helt bör ersättas med mer flexibla och dynamiska styrmedel. Syfte Syftet med vår studie är att undersöka hur de senaste fem årens ökade osäkerhetsfaktorer har påverkat budgeteringens roll inom verksamhetsstyrningen. Specifikt hur företag som verkar på elmarknaden har anpassat eller kompletterat budgeteringen med flexibla styrverktyg. Metod Vår studie har genomförts med en kvantitativ undersökningsmetod. Datainsamlingen har genomförts med en internetbaserad enkät. Företagen inom elbranschen har valts ut genom ett slumpmässigt urval. Studien har genomförts med en deduktiv ansats. Resultat och slutsats Företagen inom elbranschen har under de senaste fem åren i hög grad påverkats av ökade osäkerhetsfaktorer. Planering av verksamheten har försvårats och behovet av riskanalyser har ökat.Trots detta är den traditionella budgeteringen fortsatt av väsentlig vikt i styrmixen då majoriteten inte har gjort eller planerar att göra förändringar i sitt sätt att arbeta med traditionell budgetering.Övergivning av styrmedlet är inte enväldigt relaterat till dess brister, utan organisatoriska hinderkan vara överordnade vid eventuell implementering av nya styrmedel. Av de mest omtalade alternativa styrmedlen föredras de som kompletterar en av den traditionella budgeteringens främsta svagheter, att den snabbt blir inaktuell. / Introduction Traditional budgeting has long been a reliable and frequently used management control tool. War and inflation have caused a rise in external uncertainties resulting in the market climate changing over the last five years. Changes surrounding the electricity market have also impacted companies within the industry. Over several decades critique has been presented against the traditional budgeting regarding its suitability in uncertain and changing environments. Critique has been rekindled since companies now require alternative tools to be able to navigate their organisations in uncertain market environments. Even the alternative tools have their challenges regarding successful implementation and their ability to complement the traditional budgeting.There are also advocates who argue that more flexible and dynamic tools should replace traditional budgeting altogether. Aim The aim of our study is to investigate how the external uncertainties over the last five years have impacted the role of budgeting within management control. Specifically, how companies who operate in the electricity industry have adjusted or complemented budgeting with flexible tools. Method Our study has been carried out using a quantitative survey method. The data has been collected using an online survey. Companies within the electricity industry have been randomly selected to participate. This study has been completed using a deductive approach. Results and conclusion Companies within the electricity industry have been largely impacted by external uncertainties over the last five years. The planning of organisations has become more difficult and the need for risk analysis has increased. Budgeting has, despite increased difficulties, continued to be of substantial importance regarding control tools since the majority of the companies have not made,or plan to make, any changes in their ways of using traditional budgeting. We have found that abandonment of the traditional budgeting is not strictly related to its shortcomings, but instead the organisational obstacles may be the deciding factor in the possible implementation of new control tools. Amongst the most discussed alternative control tools are the ones that complement the biggest weakness of traditional budgeting, that it quickly becomes outdated, preferred.