This paper looks at the interrelationship between external shocks and integration processes in the relationship between two relatively small states (Belarus and Ukraine) and their much larger neighbor (Russia). It contrasts Russia’s willingness and ability to use energy as a soft-power...

The issue of energy security is being reviewed from a standpoint of geopolitics. The contention is that geopolitics is inescapably related to the question of energy security for a simple reason: the contradiction between the universal character of energy demand and the nation-state’s exclusive...

The harmonization and integration of separate national energy markets to an interconnected internal European market is a top priority of the European Commission. However, as energy policy largely remains subject to national sovereignty, a higher degree of integration can cause unilateral...

This paper analyzes theoretically and empirically how upstream markets are affected by deregulation downstream. Deregulation tends to increase the level of uncertainty in the upstream market. Our theoretical analysis predicts that deregulated firms respond to this increase in uncertainty by...

In Germany and beyond, various capacity mechanisms are currently being discussed with a view to improving the security of electricity supply. One of these mechanisms is a strategic reserve that retains generation capacity for use in times of critical supply shortage. We argue that strategic...

Promoting energy efficiency (EE) has become a leading policy response to greenhouse gas emissions, energy dependence, and the cost of new generators and transmission lines. Such policies present numerous puzzles. Electricity prices below marginal production costs could warrant EE policies if EE...

In this paper we argue, that the interaction of technology and economic policy regulations in the energy sector may be described by the so-called slow-fast class of dynamical systems. It is known that such systems may exhibit the blue sky catastrophe, a special type of bifurcation. Application...

The harmonization and integration of separate national energy markets to an interconnected internal European market is a top priority of the European Commission. However, as energy policy largely remains subject to national sovereignty, a higher degree of integration can cause unilateral...

The objective of this paper is to study the institutional arrangement and their interaction in Thai energy regulation before and after the establishment of energy regulator in Thailand and to evaluate the impacts of institutional dynamics on performance of regulatory function, particularly in...

In this paper we argue, that the interaction of technology and economic policy regulations in the energy sector may be described by the so-called slow-fast class of dynamical systems. It is known that such systems may exhibit the blue sky catastrophe, a special type of bifurcation. Application...