2023.09.28

11th Spring Conference of the International Association for Public Economics 2023

On March 4^th, a symposium on “Responding to the increasing Electricity Prices” was held at the 11th Spring Conference of the International Association for Public Economics 2023, co-hosted by the Institute for Policy Analysis and Social Innovation, University of Hyogo and the Institute for Industrial Research, Kwansei Gakuin University.

Currently, electricity is traded on the market which comes in a wide variety of forms. As the share of renewable energies increases, correlating with price increase in these markets, causing trading markets for only corporations to expand. The Institute for Policy Analysis and Social Innovation hopes to contribute to the design of a comprehensive electricity market by the revitalisation of future electricity trading. Therefore, discussions were mainly focused on the causes of electricity price hikes as well as future electricity trading.

Mr Tetsuya Azuma, Director of the Transaction System Planning Office, Electricity and Gas Market Surveillance Commission (EGC), Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, gave a presentation entitled “Increasing electricity prices and how to encounter them”, focusing on retail electricity prices and wholesale electricity prices.

Professor Munenori Nomura, former President of the International Association for Public Economics and a member of the School of Economics at Kwansei Gakuin University, spoke on ‘The harmful effects of competition caused by electricity reform and required future policies” from the perspective of operators and users.

Professor Minoru Nakamura, Specially Appointed Professor at the University’s Institute for Policy Analysis and Social Innovation gave a lecture on recent international movement on price trends. In his speech, he stated ‘balancing the combination of generating energy from thermal, hydro, nuclear and renewable energy sources, is the key to solving future electricity problems’.

The lectures were followed by a lively discussion and topics such as how to deal with risk were addressed, Professor Nakamura stated ” We need to increase the number of initiatives in Japan with a mindset of how to take risks and how to challenge uncertainties. In particular, I would like younger generations to deepen their understanding of how to manage risk, which will become important for a sustainable future.”.