The implications of electricity restructuring for a sustainable energy framework: What's law got to do with it?

Abstract

The restructuring of electricity markets is a worldwide phenomenon driven by broader programs of microeconomic reform. Since the 1970s, governments, driven by free market economics, have endorsed the introduction of competition in various sectors of the economy, including transport, telecommunications, water, gas, electricity, health services and prisons. Extensive international research conducted by the author indicates that electricity restructuring has had indisputably serious environmental consequences. These include measurable increases in air pollution from sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions, and a marked escalation in greenhouse gas emissions. This article is concerned principally with the correlation between restructuring and increased greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the legal measures that should be enacted to counteract this phenomenon.