Synthesis of economic criteria in the design of electric utility industrial conservation programs in Costa Rica

Technical Report · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:416355

Fisher, S C

This paper lays out a set of economic criteria to guide the development of electricity conservation programs for industrial customers of the Costa Rican utilities. It puts the problem of utility and other public policy formulation in the industrial conservation field into the context of ongoing economic and trade liberalization in Costa Rica, as well as the financial and political pressures with which the country`s utilities must contend. The need to bolster utility financial performance and the perennial political difficulty of adjusting power rates for inflation and devaluation, not to mention maintaining efficient real levels, puts a premium on controlling the costs of utility conservation programs and increasing the degree of cost recovery over time. Industrial conservation programs in Costa Rica must adopt a certain degree of activation to help overcome serious market failures and imperfections while at the same time avoiding significant distortion of the price signals guiding the ongoing industrial rationalization process and the reactivation of growth.

• Research Organization: International Association for Energy Economics, Cleveland, OH (United States)
• OSTI ID: 416355
• Report Number(s): CONF-9507139--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
COSTA RICA
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
ENERGY CONSERVATION
ENERGY POLICY
IMPLEMENTATION
POLITICAL ASPECTS
TRADE