Power Sector Reforms in Market and Transition Economies: Lessons for Cuba. Presented at the 16th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), Miami, Florida, August 3, 2006

摘要

The paper identifies three types of activities that would need to be implemented, which are: A) establishing the rules of the game, including the establishment of a regulatory agency and raising tariffs; B) increasing the efficiency of state-owned enterprises in the power sector, including the development of incentive-based management and operations contracts, and the establishment of other mechanisms to avoid asset-stripping and tunneling; and C) privatization. While A and B can be implemented simultaneously, C (privatization) should not be attempted until there has been adequate progress in implementing the first two types of activities. Fortunately, Cuba would be able to benefit from lessons learned from other countries that have gone through similar processes. For ensuring sound investment in generation in the mid-term, it may be necessary to develop an efficient system of capacity payments and/or other policy instruments to provide adequate incentives for investment.