Overview
Since the 1990s, many countries have begun to liberalize fully their electric power systems, while concurrently strengthening regulatory agencies to ensure fair competition. The liberalized systems provide consumers with an incentive to lower their demand for power and generating companies with an incentive to increase their supply of power during shortages.
The need for liberalization is widely recognized in Japan now as a result of the power shortage that occurred after the Great East Japan Earthquake. To prepare for the liberalization of the electric power system in Japan, it is vital to study the technological, economic, and political issues that foreign countries faced at the times of their liberalization. The aim of the present study is to conduct international comparison of electric power liberalization from the view point of drawing lessons for Japan's liberalization.
January 11, 2012 - September 30, 2013
