Liberalisation and restructuring of the electricity industry : is regulatory uncertainty the weakest link? The devil is in the detail. Focus-Republic of Ireland

Abstract

This thesis examines the European Union's restructuring and liberalisation policy of the electricity industry. It details the level of implem entation of this policy in law and in practice, particularly, in the case of the Republic of Ireland. It seeks to establish the causes of why this policy has not met the original expectation of a Single European Electricity Market. This thesis identifies multifaceted forms of regulatory uncertainty as the overriding cause for the failure to create a Single European Electricity Market. Some of these include for instance: The type of legislative instrument (Directives) used to liberalise the electricity industry, which provided flexibility but at the same time created regulatory uncertainty because inappropriate unbundling of the industry, due to the model types and choices of unbundling in the Directives has taken place. Uncertainty in the unbundling models has also created much inefficiency in the industry, when the purpose of liberalisation was to create efficiencies. This has been particularly so for the Republic of Ireland with consumers and taxpayers bearing the costs. Loss of confidence for new Market Participants who need to invest very large sums of money to enter the electricity industry has also occurred.