No description available.

No description available.

The name of the thesis: Specifics of consumer protection in the field of energy industry The thesis deals with the specific consumer protection in the field of energy industry - in the market with electricity, gas, and thermal energy. The goal of the thesis is a detailed analysis of the legal regulation of the most important consumers' rights and related obligations of the license holders and eventual problems of consumers occurring in the market with energy commodities, followed by an analysis of relevant jurisdiction. The first part is focused on the definition of primary participants entering the energetic market where the attention is focused on the customer - consumer and energy supplier. The second part defines relevant customers' rights, besides the right to connection to the power system it also closely analyses especially the so-called some measures to protect a customer, as regulated in Section 11a of the Energy Act, including the right of withdrawal, termination of contract, right of withdrawal when the price is increased or other contract conditions are changed. It is followed by an analysis of some obligations of license holders. Besides the obligation of information, the so-called institute of continuation of licensed activity execution, the institute of obligation beyond the license...

Loyalty, improvement, better understanding of customers -- all these notions attract the interest and striving for improvement of many managers. The segmentation has become an indispensable part of path from a company to customers. Dividing market into distinctive groups allows a company to target customers in a better way. The energy industry in the Czech Republic is an example where the segmentation methodology is not working clearly, so entire organisations become disoriented as an effect of not clear B2B customer division. As there are not so many segmentation tools that would be made exclusively for an energy company, I decided to study this field and design a new one. In the first part, I will look into the energy industry specificities and functioning of the electricity market in order to understand the specifics of this industry on the Czech market. By looking into segmentation methods, particularly in the area of B2B, the important assumptions of the correct and effective segmentation will be discovered. In the second part, I applied the knowledge from the theoretical framework where the basic knowledge about the B2B market and the segmentation in this area were introduced. Moreover, the most appropriate variables of segmentation were grouped in the logical way. This knowledge will be used as a base for the creation of new segmentation methodology and application of the knowledge gained from the extensive research conducted abroad. All in all, the ultimate goal of my work is to create the new advanced segmentation methodology tool and to propose how the most suitable solutions can be designed.

The wind energy industry in the U.S. has seen robust growth within the last two decades. The amount of renewable resources available throughout the U.S. is substantial, and as renewable energy penetration approaches a significant proportion of total electricity generation, grid operators and utilities will be presented with a myriad of challenges. Such is the case in wind’ rich Texas, where the rate of wind installations surpasses every other state and rivals that of China. By the end of 2009, the ERCOT region of Texas had approximately 9000 MW installed, serving 6.5% of the annual electricity load . The intermittent nature of wind energy can place a burden on existing generators as they are increasingly relied on to provide regulation of power, frequency control and back-up energy services when wind production is low. Exacerbating the difficulty of integrating wind energy is the mismatch of wind generation and electricity demand. Although Texas is blessed with plentiful wind resources, the majority of energy produced typically occurs at night when electricity demands are low. The result is transmission congestion that prevents cost effective generators from serving load. Despite these integration difficulties, ERCOT is paving the way forward with transformative infrastructure plans and proactive rulemaking. This report provides a background on the state of the wind energy industry in the U.S., with a review of power system operation strategies and wind integration best practices. With that context, this study concludes that ERCOT’s electricity market operations, transmission plans, and Texas’ renewable energy policies will act to reasonably and reliably accommodate wind generation capacity that serves over 15% of annual load by 2030. / text

Application Service Providing (ASP) is a recently emerged software delivery model under which an Application Service Provider hosts, manages and delivers software as a service to customers via the Internet or a private network. The ASP model offers benefits from cost savings, specialized expertise, a faster time to market, and a reduced risk due to a lower capital investment. However, customers who are unsure about the value of ASP services and their demands may be reluctant to commit to ASP contracts. Many are also concerned with security, performance and loss of control. The underlying research identifies determinants influencing adoption intentions in the early technology stages of ASP within electric utilities. The tested model includes characteristics of the innovation, such as relative (dis-) advantage of ASP, as well as characteristics of the environment, the adopting company and importance of social influence. After a broad qualitative study a quantitative web-based survey generated 158 data sets. Multiple linear regression and logistic regression were used to analyze the relationships between multi-item constructs. Results show that the perceived improved service provided by ASP, the perceived calculation accuracy of load and price forecasts, the perceived benefits from the provision of external competence, and the trust in the reliability of the service provider as well as the image gains a company has by using ASP are significant factors influencing the formation of attitude for or against ASP solutions. Furthermore, the dependent variable in this research-the intention to adopt-is determined by the behavioral intention to try, the attitude towards ASP, the perceived cost of ASP, and the company size of the adopting firm. All constructs rank high in measurement quality and the overall model reveals food for an improved conception of ASP as well as managerial practices. Results also indicate the lapse of the diffusion curve of ASP in the electric utilities industry in Austria and Germany. (author's abstract)

The goal of the thesis is identification and analysis of key risks for Czech district heating sector with focus on coal availability and impact of the EU regulatory measures. In the Czech Republic district heating sector is an important part of energy industry. It serves heating needs of 1.5 million households and substantial amount of industry needs. Currently the question of possible brown coal shortage is becoming urgent. Dynamically changing regulatory framework generating requirements for additional investments is destabilizing. The sector is defined, its competitiveness is evaluated and further the risks are analyzed. Based on brown coal market analysis it is concluded that the current market situation can be considered as stabilized. In the long term perspective the question of possible lifting of the coal mining limits remains crucial. It is concluded that impacts of the EU regulatory measures can't be objectively evaluated at the moment. But it can be assumed that most of district heating companies will be finally able to meet the requirements.

Background Understanding the benefits from the environment of municipally-owned energy firms in Sweden, through the perspective of the network theory, the triple helix model and knowledge transfer. Aim To construct a model describing the resources flowing within the network of relationships within the specific context of operations. Methodology The study is centred on a case company where two specific departments are put in focus: the energy recovery department and the business development. The case study aims to be descriptive, according to the data collected from interviews of relevant respondents. Findings - The benefits derived from a collaboration with a knowledge centre is the legitimate creation of exploitable innovation for the firm, as well as the creation/improvement of hybrid platforms where mobility of personnel is seen as a central communication factor. - When it comes to the income generating activities the main benefits that arose within the collaboration was the creation of opportunities for growth and business networks as such.- Power on influencing the context generates policies and favourable network oriented circumstances.

This Master's Thesis deals with the EU competition law enforcement towards undertakings in the energy industry. The attention of the thesis is devoted only to the part of the energy industry, gas and electricity sectors, as the EU decided to liberalize these markets in the mid-1990s with the aim of gradually transform them into the single European energy market, which will be fully open to the competition. The aim of the thesis is to answer research question, what the specifics of the EU competition law enforcement towards undertakings in the energy industry are. The first chapter deals with the fundamental competition law rules, which are analysed in the thesis within the energy industry. These are prohibition of the agreements which have as their object or effect the restriction of competition (regulated in the Art. 101 TFEU) and prohibition of the abuse of dominant position (regulated in the Art. 102 TFEU). Besides these rules, which are enforced ex post, the chapter also deals with the control of merger of undertakings by the Commission as an ex ant competition law enforcement towards notified mergers. The chapter further looks at the main objectives of the competition law and the means the Commission has at its disposal to competition law enforcement. The second chapter briefly describes the...

Background: There is a growing consensus that our world is facing substantial global challenges which can have devastating consequences for both planet and people. The call for change is clear and to shift the unsustainable trends, there must be an involvement by everyone, including business. However, there is a high risk of change initiative’s failure and one of the main reasons have considered to be employee resistance. One solution to change resistance is suggested to be change readiness, which has not received as much academic attention. The question that remains is how businesses, which account for major negative impacts on both planet and people, can create change readiness.    Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore how change readiness is created in the context of changes initiated to develop more sustainable businesses.   Method: This thesis is a qualitative study with an exploratory nature where 21 interviews, representing 13 companies were conducted in order to collect the empirical data. Further, this thesis involves a comparative study of multiple case studies. Conclusion: The findings show that businesses are creating readiness for change towards becoming more sustainable by establishing various components including discrepancy, appropriateness, efficacy, principal support, personal valence and the affective component. These components are conveyed through the accompanying strategies, persuasive communication and active participation. Furthermore, education was found to be a strong influencer of change readiness for sustainable development. Nevertheless, change readiness as a concept is not consciously used by any of the companies represented in this thesis.