State-owned Power Companies Research Articles

Examining organizational politics as the cause of the crisis in energy generation in developing countries

The majority of state-owned power companies (SoEs) have experienced organizational cancer for nearly three decades without showing any signs of ceasing operations. Academicians generally agree that organizational politics are to blame for the ongoing energy-generating dilemma that has plagued rising nations. Worldwide, economies rely heavily on electricity as an energy source, to the point where they would not function or even survive without it. In order to reduce unfavorable political behavior, this study examines organizational politics at the Zimbabwe Supply Authority, a SoE in charge of energy production. A sample of 1400 individuals who were chosen at random from a population of 2210 staff members participated in the study using a quantitative research approach to collect data. By the deadline, 358 completed questionnaires had been returned; however, 11 of them were rejected because they had been wrongly filled out, with a response rate of 24.78%. The data were analyzed using the statistical tool SPSS 21.0 for Windows. To ensure that the samples were adequate for factor analysis, the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy and Bartlett's Test of sphericity were applied to the data before exploratory factor analysis could be conducted on them (Field, 2007:619). The results of the study showed that bad political behavior and ineffective managerial leadership techniques had a detrimental impact on the power generation crisis. According to the report, managers should receive training on modern managerial leadership behavior, managerial methods for behavior modification, and improved communication.

Decarbonization in state-owned power companies: Lessons from a comparative analysis

A rapid decarbonization of the electricity system is urgently required for the Paris Agreement objectives to stand a reasonable chance of being met. While state-owned power companies (SPCs) are the dominant firm type in the global electricity sector, representing nearly two thirds of global electric power generation capacity, most climate policy literature focuses on private sector companies when analyzing decarbonization interventions. SPCs’ distinct corporate governance structures, objectives, relationships with government, and sources of finance, however, can be markedly different from those of private companies. Here, we develop a framework for analyzing the extent to which common and divergent features of SPCs, and the markets in which they operate, affect their relationship to government interventions on decarbonization. We also consider the implications of these relationships for the effective implementation of sector-wide decarbonization strategies. We then apply this framework using a comparative case study analysis of six major SPCs, and highlight how differences in their agency, motivation, capacity, and market exposure may result in different potential responsiveness to government regulatory, policy and market interventions on decarbonization. We generalize these findings by developing four SPC archetypes and illustrate how they might respond differently to government interventions targeting decarbonization. Our analysis posits that SPCs can, under the guidance of governments pursuing ambitious climate policy, be more effective vehicles for decarbonization relative to private sector companies, particularly when they operate with a high degree of operational independence, are insulated from competitive pressures, and have the financial and technical capacity to invest in the decarbonization of their asset base. Similarly, market-wide policy interventions, such as carbon pricing mechanisms, could in practice be less effective interventions with respect to SPCs than their private counterparts when the SPC is ill-equipped to translate these incentives into decarbonization action because it is mandated to pursue supplementary objectives other than profit maximization alone. Ultimately, governments will need to step up their climate action to achieve carbon neutrality. SPCs can, and where they are major market players, must be key actors in driving decarbonization when the appropriate interventions are utilized and therefore deserve significantly more attention in the climate policy debate.

Estimating the Employment and Fiscal Consequences of Thermal Coal Phase-Out in China

China hosts over half of global coal-fired power generation capacity and has the world’s largest coal reserves. Its 2060 carbon neutrality goal will require coal-fired electricity generation to shrink dramatically, with or without carbon capture and storage technology. Two macroeconomic areas in which the socioeconomic impact of this decline is felt are losses in jobs and tax revenues supported by thermal coal mining, transport and power generation. At the national level, under a ‘baseline’ (B) scenario consistent with China’s carbon neutrality goal, labour productivity growth in coal mining implies that significant job losses will occur nationally in the medium term, even if all coal plants continue operating as planned. Jobs supported by the coal power industry would decline from an estimated 2.7 million in 2021, to 1.44 million in 2035 and 94,000 in 2050, with jobs losses from mining alone expected to exceed 1.1 million by 2035. Tax revenues from thermal coal would total approximately CNY 300 billion annually from 2021–2030, peaking in 2023 at CNY 340 billion. This is significantly less than estimated subsidies of at least CNY 480 billion, suggesting coal is likely a net fiscal drain on China’s public finances, even without accounting for the costs of local pollution and the social cost of carbon. As coal plant retirements accelerate, from 2034 onwards, fiscal revenues begin to fall more rapidly, with rates of decline rising from 1% in the 2020s to over 10% a year by the 2040s. More aggressive climate policy and technology scenarios bring job and tax losses forward in time, while a No Transition policy, in which all currently planned coal plants are built, delays but does not ultimately prevent these losses. At the provincial level, China’s major coal-producing provinces will likely face challenges in managing the localised effects of expected job losses and finding productive alternative uses for this labour. Governments of coal-producing provinces like Inner Mongolia, with an industry highly dependent on exports to other provinces, are more exposed than others to declining tax revenues from coal, and more insulated from job losses, given their high current degree of labour efficiency. Although their provincial revenues are likely to remain stable until the early 2030s under the B scenario, the possibility of increasing policy stringency underlines the need for revenue and skill base diversification. At the firm level, China’s ‘Big Five’ state-owned power companies were responsible for over 40% of both jobs and tax revenues in 2021. The number of jobs supported by the activities of each of the largest ten firms, with one exception, will decline by 71–84% by the early 2040s, with the tax contribution of each declining by 43–69% in the same period.

Work Stress, Perceived Career Opportunity, and Organizational Loyalty In Organizational Change: a Moderated Mediation Model

We applied job demands–resources theory to construct a negative work characteristic (i.e., work stress) and a positive work characteristic (i.e., perceived career opportunity) in the context of organizational change to investigate how these characteristics affect employees' organizational loyalty. Participants were 2048 Chinese employees from a state-owned power company where a government-led power price reform had taken place. Results show that work stress is negatively related to organizational loyalty via job satisfaction, and that perceived career opportunity (PCO) is positively related to organizational loyalty. In regard to the moderating role of PCO, the negative effects of work stress on organizational loyalty and on job satisfaction, and the negative mediation effect of work stress on organizational loyalty via job satisfaction, were weaker for employees with high rather than low PCO.

Implementation of green supply chain management in India: Bottlenecks and remedies

The Indian power industry has entered a transition from traditional operations to modern practices. An analysis of developments in Punjab shows how state-owned power companies have been in the vanguard in implementing a holistic model of green supply chain management that reduces losses and inefficiencies while also addressing environmental concerns.

An assessment of electricity supply and demand at Emfuleni Local Municipality

Globally, electricity has become a modern tool to supply energy to households. This study investigates the supply and demand of household electricity and sustainability of distribution centres at Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM). South Africa follows a vigorous programme of electrification, spearheaded by Eskom. Eskom is a South African state-owned power company which strives to meet the country’s increasing demand for energy. Resi-dential energy demand is growing as population levels rise and the number of households in ELM increases. Recently (2008–2010) in South Africa there have been unprecedented levels of load shedding nationally and there is a shortage of centres to purchase electricity. Furthermore, households do not receive uninterrupted electricity on a daily basis, largely because of stolen electrical cables and illegal connections. Low-income residents of Evaton, ELM, were interviewed. Empirical surveys were conducted and a theoretical exposition drawn up to meet the objectives of the study. It was found that electricity supply and demand in ELM is adequate but there is a shortage of selling points in Evaton and there are barriers towards the effectiveness of electricity consumption. In addition, public awareness programmes must continue to educate the communities to avoid stealing the electrical cables. Illegal connection must be reported to the local councillors for them to make sure that this activity is stopped in Evaton.

Political and institutional analysis of the successes and failures of China’s wind power policy

This paper identifies and explains how political and institutional factors have determined the relative successes and failures of China’s wind power policy over the period 2005–2011. It finds that China has made significant progress in pursuing its wind power policy in terms of cumulative installed capacity, wind turbine manufacturing industry development and wind turbine cost, and argues that these achievements can be attributed to the political motives and institutional arrangements of the Chinese government as well as to institutional changes. On the other hand, the paper finds that there are two prominent policy failures, namely the low proportion of grid-connected capacity and the rising trend of wind turbine incidents. These have undermined the efficiency and effectiveness of China’s wind power program. The paper holds that the institutional sources for the first policy failure lies in the preference for setting wind power development targets in terms of installed capacity rather than generation and in coordination problems while the second policy failure lies in the lack of state technical codes for wind power integration and the unfair competition from the large state-owned power companies. The paper contributes to the academic literature on the political and institutional roles in China’s wind power policy.

Investigations Concerning Nuclear Energy in the Combined Production of Electricity and Heat in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area

The possibility of producing the base load of both electricity and district heat for the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA) utilizing nuclear energy has been investigated since 1968. At every stage of the study, it has been concluded that district heating utilizing nuclear power in combined electricity and heat productions is the most economical way of heating the main part of the HMA. The studies have dealt with the economy of energy production and heat transmission as well as nuclear safety. According to the latest results, the optimum of the heat output of a 1000-MW(electric) unit is approximately 800 MW if the plant is situated 50 km away from the heat load center. For further studies and realization of the plans, the cities of the HMA and the state-owned power company, the Imatra Power Company, have formed a common company for the nuclear power plant project.