In the Dark: How Much Do Power Sector Distortions Cost South Asia?

doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-1154-8

Publication:
In the Dark: How Much Do Power Sector Distortions Cost South Asia?

dc.contributor.author	Zhang, Fan
dc.date.accessioned	2018-12-03T20:35:15Z
dc.date.available	2018-12-03T20:35:15Z
dc.date.issued	2019
dc.description.abstract	Electricity shortages are among the biggest barriers to South Asia’s development. Some 255 million people—more than a quarter of the world’s off-grid population—live in South Asia, and millions of households and firms that are connected experience frequent and long hours of blackouts. Inefficiencies originating in every link of the electricity supply chain contribute significantly to the power deficit. Three types of distortions lead to most of the inefficiencies: institutional distortions caused by state ownership and weak governance; regulatory distortions resulting from price regulation, subsidies, and cross-subsidies; and social distortions (externalities) causing excessive environmental and health damages from energy use. Using a common analytical framework and covering all stages of power supply, In the Dark identifies and estimates how policy-induced distortions have affected South Asian economies. The book introduces two innovations. First, it goes beyond fiscal costs, evaluating the impact of distortions from a welfare perspective by measuring the impact on consumer wellbeing, producer surplus, and environmental costs. And second, the book adopts a broader definition of the sector that covers the entire power supply chain, including upstream fuel supply and downstream access and reliability. The book finds that the full cost of distortions in the power sector is far greater than previously estimated based on fiscal cost alone: The estimated total economic cost is 4–7 percent of the gross domestic product in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Some of the largest costs are upstream and downstream. Few other reforms could quickly yield the huge economic gains that power sector reform would produce. By expanding access to electricity and improving the quality of supply, power sector reform would also directly benefit poor households. The highest payoffs are likely to come from institutional reforms, expansion of reliable access, and the appropriate pricing of carbon and local air pollution emissions.	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1596/978-1-4648-1154-8
dc.identifier.isbn	978-1-4648-1154-8
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10986/30923
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	Washington, DC: World Bank
dc.relation.ispartofseries	South Asia Development Forum;
dc.rights	CC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder	World Bank
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo
dc.subject	POWER SECTOR
dc.subject	ENERGY
dc.subject	ELECTRICITY
dc.subject	DISTORTIONS
dc.subject	INSTITUTIONS
dc.subject	REGULATION
dc.subject	SOCIAL COST
dc.subject	POWER SECTOR REFORM
dc.subject	ELASTICITY
dc.subject	EFFICIENCY
dc.title	In the Dark	en
dc.title.subtitle	How Much Do Power Sector Distortions Cost South Asia?	en
dc.type	Book	en
dc.type	Livre	fr
dc.type	Libro	es
dspace.entity.type	Publication
okr.crossref.title	In the Dark: How Much Do Power Sector Distortions Cost South Asia?
okr.date.disclosure	2018-12-11
okr.date.doiregistration	2025-04-15T12:01:21.566918Z
okr.doctype	Publications & Research
okr.doctype	Publications & Research::Publication
okr.externalurl	www.worldbank.org/inthedark
okr.guid	462261544568063923
okr.identifier.doi	10.1596/978-1-4648-1154-8
okr.identifier.doi	https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1154-8
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum	211154
okr.identifier.report	132854
okr.imported	true	en
okr.language.supported	en
okr.region.administrative	South Asia
okr.region.country	Bangladesh
okr.region.country	India
okr.region.country	Pakistan
okr.region.geographical	South Asia
okr.topic	Energy::Electric Power
okr.topic	Energy::Energy Markets
okr.topic	Energy::Energy Policies & Economics
okr.topic	Energy::Energy Privatization
okr.topic	Energy::Energy Sector Regulation
okr.unit	SARCE