INVESTIGATING POINTS-OF-GENERATION POWER LOSSES ON THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL GRID FOLLOWING UNBUNDLING OF THE ELECTRIC UTILITY INDUSTRY

Aside from the domino effects of being radial in structure, the Nigerian national electric grid is currently suffering from deteriorated infrastructures and unpredictable fuel supply for power generation. Massive introduction of green energy-based microgrid alternatives has been proposed as a major means of resolving the challenges. Such paradigm shift needs to be substantiated within the context of the present situation of the grid, for the consumption of policy makers and implementers, hence; the performance of the generation sub-system of the grid in the post-deregulation era is evaluated in this study. Two-year numerical data on the operational capacities of the twenty-nine power plants that are currently connected to the grid are employed to profile the behaviours of the plants over the period. Yearly averages of the three operational capacities of each plant are estimated, and by comparing the respective capacities, generation losses are computed for each of the plants. With 5,063.8 MW yearly average generation capacity in the year 2018, a loss of 61.02 % was experienced on the sub-system; while the generation loss was 61.55 % in the year 2019 that has yearly average generation capacity of 5,062.5 MW. For the two years combined, the average generation capacity is 5,063.2 MW at 61.36 % power loss. These estimations reveal that the pre-deregulation loss profile of the generation sub-system has not been curtailed despite the unbundling of the electric power industry. Generation loss has rather persisted and keeps taking a heavy toll on the electric utility market of the country. Significant deployment of renewable electricity microgrid is therefore required to provide enduring solution.

Enabling design characteristics and budget usefulness

Purpose This study aims to investigate the influence of budgeting design characteristics on perceived budgeting usefulness, based on the enabling-coercive framework. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops a survey in one large publicly-listed Brazilian company that operates in the electric utility industry. The sample comprises 75 middle managers from different areas of this organization. This study uses structural equation modeling as the data analysis method. Findings The results indicate that internal and global transparencies determine middle managers’ perceptions of budgeting usefulness, while no relationship was found for repair capacity and flexibility characteristics. This paper shows that managers, when provided with global and internal transparencies and independently of their level discretion regarding target revisions or the reallocation of resources, perceive budgeting systems as being useful for decision-facilitating and decision-influencing roles. Practical implications The findings might be relevant for budgeting professionals to review or design the budgeting system in terms of dribbling potential flaws and increasing its use in the organization. Originality/value The study explores the multidimensionality of the enabling-coercive budgeting design construct. This study provides a theoretical contribution to the literature by showing that budget alignment, integration, learning and information sharing are relevant such that an organization could improve the assertiveness using budgeting systems. Besides, this paper provides an opposing view about the supposed relation between flexible budgeting design and budgeting usefulness. Frequently, some management directions are offered by the literature and no guarantee is provided in terms of the connection between the adoption and the usefulness of those mechanisms. Therefore, the findings shed more light on the practical developments in budgeting.

Analysis of Total Quality Management dimensions towards Market Orientation in Electric Utility Industry in Malaysia: A Structural Approach

Total quality management (TQM) philosophy and principle targeting on the regular changes for customer satisfaction, were proposed to be used in guiding the change process in electric utility industry towards market orientation through quality improvement of TQM practices. The aim of this study to analyses the TQM dimensions of; employee relation, training, and customer focus towards market orientation of electric utility industry in Peninsular of Malaysia. Total of 127 questionnaires distributed and 80 questionnaires useable for further analysis. A structural approach using Partial Least Square was adopted to analyze this relationship. The findings showed that all studied variables influence market orientation. Future direction was proposed for further research.