Selecting and Ranking IT Governance Practices for Electric Utilities

Although general literature and several frameworks suggest practices for IT Governance, there is still no consensus about which should be considered “best” or “essential”. It seems reasonable to assume that recommendations of specific practices depend on factors such as the target industry, company profile, culture, and IT organization preferences. The literature on the subject for the electric utility industry seems particularly scanty. We have taken a first step in filling this gap by performing a literature review and then discussing our preliminary findings with top level IT executives from an electric utility in Europe and another in South America. We came up with a list of 83 practices that can be used to address distinct dimensions of IT Governance (leadership, structure, process, social, and relational mechanisms) and with a shorter list of 14 key practices classified into Essential, Important, and Good that are deemed the most relevant for electrical utilities

IT Governance Practices for Electric Utilities: Insights from Brazil and Europe

We propose a framework of 14 IT governance practices tailored for the electric utilities sector. They were selected and ranked as "essential", "important", or "good" by top executives and IT staff from two multi-billion dollar companies - one in Brazil and another in Europe - from a generic set of 83 collected in the literature and in the field. Our framework addresses a need of electric utilities for which specific guidance was lacking. We have also uncovered a significant impact of social issues in IT governance, whose depth seems to be missing in the current research. As a byproduct of our work, the larger generic framework from which we have departed and the tailoring method that we have proposed can be used to customize the generic framework to different industries

Towards evaluation design for smart city development

Smart city developments integrate digital, human, and physical systems in the built environment. With growing urbanization and widespread developments, identifying suitable evaluation methodologies is important. Case-study research across five UK cities - Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Milton Keynes and Peterborough - revealed that city evaluation approaches were principally project-focused with city-level evaluation plans at early stages. Key challenges centred on selecting suitable evaluation methodologies to evidence urban value and outcomes, addressing city authority requirements. Recommendations for evaluation design draw on urban studies and measurement frameworks, capitalizing on big data opportunities and developing appropriate, valid, credible integrative approaches across projects, programmes and city-level developments

Sustainability Indexing and Benchmarking Framework for Oil and Gas Companies in Qatar: Review, Analysis, And Future Perspectives

The oil and gas sector has a major impact on sustainability dimensions characterized by environmental, economic, and social aspects. Because of this multidimensionality of sustainability objectives and the complexity involved in the industry practices, multi-criteria decision analysis techniques have become gradually more popular in decision making for sustainable businesses. The aim of this thesis is to develop a dedicated systematic and comprehensive framework for sustainability assessment of the oil and gas industry in Qatar, which covers the three pillars of sustainability. Five leading companies from the oil and gas sector in Qatar are selected to be the focus of this study. Procedures of selecting and quantifying the significant indicators, converting them into dimensionless values for rational benchmarking, weighting them according to their importance, and ranking the alternatives according to the aggregated scores are presented. Monte Carlo simulation and sensitivity analysis are conducted to investigate the effect of uncertainty and to ensure reliability as well as the robustness of aggregated scores

The Critical Role of Public Charging Infrastructure

Editors: Peter Fox-Penner, PhD, Z. Justin Ren, PhD, David O. JermainA decade after the launch of the contemporary global electric vehicle (EV) market, most cities face a major challenge preparing for rising EV demand. Some cities, and the leaders who shape them, are meeting and even leading demand for EV infrastructure. This book aggregates deep, groundbreaking research in the areas of urban EV deployment for city managers, private developers, urban planners, and utilities who want to understand and lead change

The Failure of Corporate Governance in State Owned Enterprises and the Need for Restructured Governance in Fully and Partially Privatized Enterprises: The Case of Kenya

This Article argues that the initiatives adopted in order to make parastatals more efficient are inadequate and will not realize the intended objectives unless the chief executives of parastatals are hired on a competitive basis, given more autonomy and the government is committed not only to designing performance contracts that set realistic standards, but also enforcing them strictly. It also contends that there is a need to streamline the multiple regulations that govern parastatals and reform the corporate regulatory framework of the private sector in order to raise standards of corporate governance and, as a result, ensure that the privatized services are managed prudently

Exploring differences in social disclosures internationally: A stakeholder perspective

Country of origin is considered to be an important determinant of the level and type of corporate social disclosure. In this paper, we use stakeholder theory to explain differ- ences in social disclosure among countries. We argue that the manner in which the role of a corporation and its stakeholders is defined in a society will affect the extent and quality of corporate social disclosure (CSD) in annual reports. Our findings based on a content analysis of 1998 and 1999 annual reports for 32 Norwegian/Danish companies and 26 US companies in the electric power generation industry, lend support to the stakeholder explanation for observed international differences in CSD

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE AND THE EXTENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE

This study examines the relationship between environmental performance and the extent of environmental disclosure. Sample of this study consists of thirty-five high profile companies. The environmental performance is measured based on the results of the PROPER assessment and the extent of environmental disclosure index by using GRI checklist items. This research applies content analysis, descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. The result shows that on average, the extent of environmental disclosure is low (22.5%). Mining companies provide highest environmental disclosure (58.2%) followed by chemicals (21.4%), utilities (19.0%), pulp and papers (16.5%), industrial (11.0%), and oil and gas (4.2%). The analysis also presents that environmental performance doesn’t have effect on level of environmental disclosure. This result suggests that high environmental performance may not encourage companies to communicate more environmental issues. This finding indicates that motivation for company to disclose environmental information is not always based on the legitmacy perspectives but might be as accountability form

Analysis of Policy Barriers to Universal Electricity Access Using AHP

학위논문 (석사)-- 서울대학교 대학원 : 공과대학 협동과정 기술경영·경제·정책전공, 2019. 2. Heo, Eunnyeong.국문 초록 AHP를 이용한 보편적 전력 접근성 대한 정책적 장애요인 분석 서울대학교 공과대학 기술경영경제정책협동과정 무투리 해리슨 코개 보편적 전력 접근성은 정부 그리고 정책 입안자들에게 높은 정책우선 순위가 주어진다. 특히 아래 사하라사막 이남 아프리카에서는 전력 접근성이 낮아, 11 억 인구 중에 80%가 전력이 없는 곳에서 거주하고 있다. 전력 접근성은 지속가능한 발전을 위한 2030년 목표달성을 위한 169 의제들과 밀접하게 연관되어 있다. 이 목표에 따르면 모든 나라들이 보편적 전력 접근성을 2030년 안에 달성하는 것이다. 그러나, 현행 정책과 전략의 실현에 도 불구, 2040년에는 사하라사막 이남 아프리카 인구 중에 700백만 명이 전기공급을 받지 못하는 상황이 벌어진다. 2014년 케냐에서는 Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP)가 수립되어, 2020년에 보편적인 전력 접근성을 달성하도록 하였다. 그동안 프로젝트를 통해서 전력 접근성이 4배로 증가하였지마는, 수요와 소비의 증가 속도 저하 때문에 정책 이행의 문제가 지속적으로 대두되고 있다. 통계를 보면 여전히 백만 이상의 인구가 전력공급을 받지 못하고 있다. 비록 전력 접근성을 갖춘 사람들이라도 소량의 전력 밖에 공급받지못하고 전력 품질과 공급신뢰도가 굉장히 낮다. 전력계통 연계 설비 부족과 느린 속도의 전력소비가 민간부문의 투자유치를 저해하였다. 또한 정부 및 기부 단체의 보조금의 부족으로 미래 LMCP 프로젝트의 계획과 전망이 불투명해지고 있다. 본 연구는 보편적인 전력 접근성 목표를 저해하는 요인들과 부추기는 결정 요인들을 찾아냄으로서 LMCP 프로젝트가 계획대로 추진되는 것뿐만 아니라, 전력서비스의 향상과 소비증가를 통해 재정적으로도 지속가능한 방법으로 LMCP 프로젝트가 수행되도록 한다. 본 연구는 분석적계층구조프로세스(Analytic Hierarchy Process: AHP)의 다기준의사결정분석(Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis: MCDMA)을 동원하여, 4 가지 주요 기준들과 14가지 요인들을 광범위한 연구 리뷰와 전문가 리뷰 통해서 이루어졌다. 본 연구결과를 통해 결론적으로 6 가지 주요 요인으로서 경제성/가격접근성, 부문별 거버넌스, 전기 서비스 품질 등이 케냐에 보편적인 접근성 목표의 결정적인 요인들로 나타났다. 이와 함께 낮은 생산성, 산업규모의 소규모, 그리고 보편적 접근성 목표와 기타 사회-경제 정책과의 연관성 미흡 등이 중요한 요인으로 대두되었다. 본 연구 결과는 Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP)의 재설계/구축에 중요한 정책적 시사점을 제공하고 미래의 유사한 보편적 전력 접근성 확대 정책에도 도움을 줄 것으로 기대한다. 키워드: (케냐, 보편적 전력 접근성, Last Mile Connectivity Project, 다기준의사결정분석, 분석적계층구조프로세스)Universal access to modern energy, more so electricity, has become a key priority for governments and policymakers in countries with low electricity access rates especially in the sub-Saharan Africa, where around 80% of the 1.1 billion people without electricity are domiciled. Access to electricity is closely linked to a significant majority of the 169 targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the world targets to attain them by achieving universal access to modern energy by 2030. However, at the current pace, the policies and strategies put in place have proved inadequate and unless urgent measures are taken, it is projected that over 700 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa will be without electricity in 2040. In Kenya, the Last Mile Connectivity Project (LMCP) was established in 2014 with the goal of attaining universal electricity access by 2020. While the project has seen connected households increase by fourfold, slow growth in demand and consumption has continuously plagued the policy implementation. Statistics show that millions of people still remain without access to electricity, including the under grid while those connected consume small units and suffer unstable, unreliable supply. The low demand of connections and consumption locked out inflow of private sector investments, and as the government and donor organizations run out of subsidies, plans for further extension of electricity to the last mile are now in jeopardy. This study endeavored to identify impediments to the universal access goals and the critical decision factors to not only ensure the extension of electricity services to the last mile, but also to ensure that through consumption of the electricity services, the beneficiaries climb up the energy access ladder in a manner that justifies a financially sustainable extension of electricity services to the last mile. The study appraised the universal access policies as previously employed against the UNCTADs paradigm of transformational electricity access. The study applied the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a multi-criteria decision making analysis (MCDMA) to evaluate between four (4) main criteria and fourteen (14) factors identified from an extensive literature review and subjected to expert review. Our results led to the conclusion that six major factors revolving around affordability, sectoral governance, and quality of electricity services as critical to the attainment of universal access goals in Kenya. Low productive uses and little industry as well as lack of linkages between universal access goals and other social-economic policies was deemed to be uniquely important, and closely linked to the transformational access paradigm. The study results gives important implications for the redesign of the LMCP and future similar universal electrification policies. Keywords: (Transformational access, Universal access, Multi-criteria Decision Analysis, Analytic Hierarchy Process, Kenya.)Table of Contents Abstract i List of Tables vii List of Figures ix LIST OF ACRONYMS xi Chapter 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Research Background 1 1.2 Research Motivation & Problem Definition 2 1.3 Research Questions 5 1.4 Research Objective 6 1.5 Literature Survey 7 1.6 Methodology 8 1.7 Research Outline 9 Chapter 2. Research Background 12 2.1 Context of the Area of Study 12 2.2 The structure of the Power Sector 13 2.3 Key Energy Policies & Strategies 18 2.3.1 Kenya Vision 2030 20 2.3.2 Sessional Paper No. 4 of 2004 21 2.3.3 Energy Act No.12 of 2006 21 2.3.4 Draft Energy Policy and Bill 2017 22 2.3.5 Least Cost Power Development Plans (LCPDPs) 22 2.3.6 Rural Electrification Masterplan 23 2.3.7 Feed-in Tariff (FIT) Policy 23 2.4 Electricity Demand, Supply and Consumption Patterns 24 2.4.1 Demand 24 2.4.2 Generation and Supply 26 2.4.3 Consumption 28 2.4.4 Regional Electrification and Consumption 31 2.4.5 Suppressed Demand 34 2.4.6 Technical & Commercial Losses 36 2.5 The Universal Electricity Access Strategy: The Last Mile Connectivity Project 37 2.6 Energy Resources for Current and Future Demand 43 2.6.1 Fossil Energy Sources 43 2.6.2 Renewable Energy Sources 45 2.6.3 Other energy Sources 50 Chapter 3. Literature Review 52 3.1 Existing Studies on Universal Electricity Access 52 3.2 Multi Criteria Decision Analysis as a Method 64 3.2.1 AHP Application in Previous Energy Studies 73 Chapter 4. Research Methodology 76 4.1 The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) 76 4.2 AHP Criteria Selection 78 4.2.1 Policy and institutional 82 4.2.2 Economic and Financial 82 4.2.3 Technical 83 4.2.4 Environmental and Socio-Political 84 4.3 Quantitative Analysis and Pairwise Comparisons 87 4.4 Research Data and Quantitative Analysis 93 4.4.1 Research Data 93 4.4.2 Quantitative Analysis 95 Chapter 5. Results and Discussion 102 5.1 Results of Empirical Analysis 103 5.1.1 Weights and Ranking of the Criteria 103 5.1.2 Estimated Weights of the Sub-Criteria (Factors) 104 5.1.3 Results of Global Priorities 110 5.2 Results Discussion 114 5.2.1 Discussion of Local Priorities 114 5.2.2 Discussion of Global Priorities 122 5.2.3 Comparative Analysis 129 5.2.4 Summary of Results Discussion 134 Chapter 6. Conclusion and Implications 136 6.1 Overall conclusion 136 6.2 Policy and Academic Implications 141 6.3 Research Contributions 142 6.4 Study Limitation and Future Studies 143 Bibliography 145 초록 157Maste