How Does the Price of Electricity Affect Imports? A Study of Swedish Manufacturing Firms

Electricity supply and consumption are currently undergoing fundamental shifts in many economies. More change will be necessary if ambitious policy objectives are to be realized. For example, the potential restrictions in electricity supply facing the German and Japanese economies as nuclear facilities are taken offline could impose profound changes to their energy systems.

Switzerland intends to follow suit. Furthermore, energy infrastructure in general will need to be restructured if ambitious commitments to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions within the next decades are realized, which may in turn lead to higher electricity prices. This is evident in the USA’s commitment to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 17 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020, and the EU pledge to reduce its emissions by between 20 and 30 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020.