New accountabilities in utilities: fifty years of legal accountability in the gas industry
New accountabilities in utilities: fifty years of legal accountability in the gas industry
Privatisation was to have released the nationalised industries from the ‘dead hand of government’. Regulation with a ‘light hand’ was imposed to curb abuse of monopoly power. But as the industries have matured in the private sector we have seen regulation extended to cover a wider area, both in theory and in practice. This paper examines the change in responsibilities and the way they are divided between industry, regulator and government, tracing the legal accountability of the UK gas industry through nationalisation, privatisation and more recent regulation reform as an example. It concludes by questioning the appropriateness of the ‘vertical separation’, instituted by the privatisation and competition legislation, of responsibilities for the public interest and for organisational operations.
ublic interest, regulated utilities, accountability
1357-1361
Conrad, Lynne
e3811339-06e7-4f2d-ae58-674afbca92fd
Waddams Price, Catherine
d8e57245-d393-4a14-9bd2-a45f02aa5c5c
December 2001
Conrad, Lynne
e3811339-06e7-4f2d-ae58-674afbca92fd
Waddams Price, Catherine
d8e57245-d393-4a14-9bd2-a45f02aa5c5c
Conrad, Lynne and Waddams Price, Catherine
(2001)
New accountabilities in utilities: fifty years of legal accountability in the gas industry.
Energy Policy, 29 (15), .
(doi:10.1016/S0301-4215(01)00042-8).
Abstract
Privatisation was to have released the nationalised industries from the ‘dead hand of government’. Regulation with a ‘light hand’ was imposed to curb abuse of monopoly power. But as the industries have matured in the private sector we have seen regulation extended to cover a wider area, both in theory and in practice. This paper examines the change in responsibilities and the way they are divided between industry, regulator and government, tracing the legal accountability of the UK gas industry through nationalisation, privatisation and more recent regulation reform as an example. It concludes by questioning the appropriateness of the ‘vertical separation’, instituted by the privatisation and competition legislation, of responsibilities for the public interest and for organisational operations.
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Published date: December 2001
Keywords:
ublic interest, regulated utilities, accountability
Organisations:
Centre of Excellence in Decision, Analytics & Risk Research
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 344826
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/344826
ISSN: 0301-4215
PURE UUID: a69578d9-733b-4d99-af3f-177dbc658b51
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 16 Nov 2012 11:47
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 12:18
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Lynne Conrad
Author:
Catherine Waddams Price
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics