IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/7868.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Diagnosing Market Power in California's Restructured Wholesale Electricity Market

Author

Listed:
  • Severin Borenstein
  • James Bushnell
  • Frank Wolak

Abstract

Effective competition in wholesale electricity markets is a necessary feature of a successful electricity supply industry restructuring. We examine the degree of competition in the California wholesale electricity market during the period June 1998 to September 1999 by comparing the market prices with estimates of the prices that would have resulted if owners of instate fossil fuel generating facilities behaved as price takers. We find that there were significant departures from competitive pricing and that these departures are most pronounced during the highest demand periods, which tend to occur during the months of July through September. Through most of the winter and spring of 1999 there was little evidence of the exercise of market power. Overall, the exercise of market power raised the cost of power purchases by about 16% above the competitive level. Following the presentation of our methodology for computing the counterfactual price-taking market price, we describe why our calculation represents a lower bound on the extent of market power and why the observed market prices cannot by attributed to competitive peak-lead pricing.

Suggested Citation

  • Severin Borenstein & James Bushnell & Frank Wolak, 2000. "Diagnosing Market Power in California's Restructured Wholesale Electricity Market," NBER Working Papers 7868, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7868
    Note: IO
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w7868.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kahn, Edward & Bailey, Shawn & Pando, Luis, 1997. "Simulating electricity restructuring in California: Interactions with the regional market," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1-2), pages 3-28, March.
    2. John C. Panzar, 1976. "A Neoclassical Approach to Peak Load Pricing," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 7(2), pages 521-530, Autumn.
    3. Joskow, Paul L & Tirole, Jean, 1999. "Transmission Rights and Market Power on Electric Power Networks I: Financial Rights," CEPR Discussion Papers 2093, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Catherine D. Wolfram, 1998. "Strategic Bidding in a Multiunit Auction: An Empirical Analysis of Bids to Supply Electricity in England and Wales," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(4), pages 703-725, Winter.
    5. Green, Richard J & Newbery, David M, 1992. "Competition in the British Electricity Spot Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(5), pages 929-953, October.
    6. Severin Borenstein & James. Bushnell & Steven Stoft, 2000. "The Competitive Effects of Transmission Capacity in A Deregulated Electricity Industry," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(2), pages 294-325, Summer.
    7. Borenstein, Severin & Bushnell, James & Kahn, Edward & Stoft, Steven, 1995. "Market power in California electricity markets," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 5(3-4), pages 219-236.
    8. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    9. Bushnell, James & Wolfram, Catherine, 2008. "Electricity Markets," Staff General Research Papers Archive 31547, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    10. Shmuel S. Oren, 1997. "Economic Inefficiency of Passive Transmission Rights in Congested Electricity Systems with Competitive Generation," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 63-83.
    11. Bushnell, J. & Oren, S., 1997. "Transmission pricing in California's proposed electricity market," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 237-244, September.
    12. Frank A. Wolak & Robert H. Patrick, 2001. "The Impact of Market Rules and Market Structure on the Price Determination Process in the England and Wales Electricity Market," NBER Working Papers 8248, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Andrews, Donald W K, 1991. "Heteroskedasticity and Autocorrelation Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(3), pages 817-858, May.
    14. Severin Borenstein & James Bushnell & Christopher R. Knittel, 1999. "Market Power in Electricity Markets: Beyond Concentration Measures," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 65-88.
    15. Bushnell, James, 1999. "Transmission Rights and Market Power," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 12(8), pages 77-85, October.
    16. Cardell, Judith B. & Hitt, Carrie Cullen & Hogan, William W., 1997. "Market power and strategic interaction in electricity networks," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1-2), pages 109-137, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Simona Bigerna & Carlo Andrea Bollino & Maria Chiara D’Errico & Paolo Polinori, 2023. "A new design for market power monitoring in the electricity market. A simulation for Italy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(1), pages 285-317, April.
    2. Bigerna, Simona & Bollino, Carlo Andrea & D'Errico, Maria Chiara & Polinori, Paolo, 2017. "The Ideal Competitive Electricity Market. A simulation for Italy," MPRA Paper 94893, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Ciarreta, Aitor & Espinosa, Maria Paz & Pizarro-Irizar, Cristina, 2017. "Has renewable energy induced competitive behavior in the Spanish electricity market?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 171-182.
    4. Kennedy, David, 2003. "Liberalisation of the Russian power sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 745-758, June.
    5. Ahmed Anwar, 2006. "Single or Multiple Pricing in Electricity Pools?," Edinburgh School of Economics Discussion Paper Series 143, Edinburgh School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
    6. John McMillan, 2004. "Using Markets to Help Solve Public Problems," NBER Chapters, in: Governance, Regulation, and Privatization in the Asia-Pacific Region, pages 73-89, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Tamaschke, R. & Docwra, G. & Stillman, R., 2005. "Measuring market power in electricity generation: A long-term perspective using a programming model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 317-335, March.
    8. Juan Pablo Montero & Hugh Rudnick, 2001. "Precios Eléctricos Flexibles," Latin American Journal of Economics-formerly Cuadernos de Economía, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 38(113), pages 91-109.
    9. Nazemi, Ali & Mashayekhi, Mehdi, 2015. "Competitiveness assessment of Iran's restructured electricity market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 308-316.
    10. Lim, Wonhyuk, 2003. "Public Enterprise Reform and Privatization in Korea: Lessons for Developing Countries," KDI Policy Studies 2003-04, Korea Development Institute (KDI).
    11. Carraretto, Cristian & Lazzaretto, Andrea, 2004. "A dynamic approach for the optimal electricity dispatch in the deregulated market," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(12), pages 2273-2287.
    12. Ritzenhofen, Ingmar & Birge, John R. & Spinler, Stefan, 2016. "The structural impact of renewable portfolio standards and feed-in tariffs on electricity markets," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 255(1), pages 224-242.
    13. Paul L. Joskow & Edward Kohn, 2002. "A Quantitative Analysis of Pricing Behavior in California's Wholesale Electricity Market During Summer 2000," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 1-35.
    14. Spear, Stephen E., 2003. "The electricity market game," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 300-323, April.
    15. Jason P. Martinek & Michael J. Orlando, 2002. "Neither Lucky Nor Good - The Case of Electricity Deregulation in California," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 33(1), pages 75-82.
    16. Maria Chiara D?Errico, 2020. "Competition in the Italian electricity market: The unforeseen social welfare losses of reform," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2020(2), pages 75-91.
    17. Mawejje, Joseph & Munyambonera, Ezra & Bategeka, Lawrence, 2012. "Uganda's Electircity Sector Reforms and Iinstitutional Restructuring," Research Series 150239, Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC).
    18. Razeghi, Ghazal & Shaffer, Brendan & Samuelsen, Scott, 2017. "Impact of electricity deregulation in the state of California," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 105-115.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Severin Borenstein & James B. Bushnell & Frank A. Wolak, 2002. "Measuring Market Inefficiencies in California's Restructured Wholesale Electricity Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1376-1405, December.
    2. Borenstein, Severin & Bushnell, James & Wolak, Frank, 1999. "Diagnosing Market Power in California's Deregulated Wholesale Electricity Market," Competition Policy Center, Working Paper Series qt3rx965d5, Competition Policy Center, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    3. Neuhoff, K., 2003. "Integrating Transmission and Energy Markets Mitigates Market Power," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0310, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    4. Guido Pepermans & Bert Willems, 2004. "Ramsey Pricing in a Congested Network with Market Power in Generation: A Numerical Illustration for Belgium," Energy, Transport and Environment Working Papers Series ete0408, KU Leuven, Department of Economics - Research Group Energy, Transport and Environment.
    5. Bert Willems & Guido Pepermans, 2003. "Regulating transmission in a spatial oligopoly: a numerical illustration for Belgium," Energy, Transport and Environment Working Papers Series ete0314, KU Leuven, Department of Economics - Research Group Energy, Transport and Environment.
    6. Severin Borenstein & James. Bushnell & Steven Stoft, 2000. "The Competitive Effects of Transmission Capacity in A Deregulated Electricity Industry," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(2), pages 294-325, Summer.
    7. Rajnish Kamat & Shmuel Oren, 2004. "Two-settlement Systems for Electricity Markets under Network Uncertainty and Market Power," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 5-37, January.
    8. Twomey, P. & Green, R. & Neuhoff, K. & Newbery, D., 2005. "A Review of the Monitoring of Market Power The Possible Roles of TSOs in Monitoring for Market Power Issues in Congested Transmission Systems," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0504, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    9. Helman, Udi, 2006. "Market power monitoring and mitigation in the US wholesale power markets," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 877-904.
    10. Pepermans, Guido & Willems, Bert, 2010. "Cost Recovery in Congested Electricity Networks," Working Papers 2010/22, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    11. Berry, Carolyn A. & Hobbs, Benjamin F. & Meroney, William A. & O'Neill, Richard P. & StewartJr, William R., 1999. "Understanding how market power can arise in network competition: a game theoretic approach," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 139-158, September.
    12. Guido Pepermans & Bert Willems, 2005. "The Potential Impact of Cross-Ownership in Transmission: an Application to the Belgian Electricity Market," Working Papers of Department of Economics, Leuven ces0503, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Economics, Leuven.
    13. James B. Bushnell & Erin T. Mansur & Celeste Saravia, 2008. "Vertical Arrangements, Market Structure, and Competition: An Analysis of Restructured US Electricity Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(1), pages 237-266, March.
    14. Hjalmarsson, Erik, 2000. "Nord Pool: A Power Market Without Market Power," Working Papers in Economics 28, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    15. Severin Borenstein & James Bushnell, 1999. "An Empirical Analysis of the Potential for Market Power in California’s Electricity Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 285-323, September.
    16. Crawford, Gregory S. & Crespo, Joseph & Tauchen, Helen, 2007. "Bidding asymmetries in multi-unit auctions: Implications of bid function equilibria in the British spot market for electricity," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 1233-1268, December.
    17. Finn R. Førsund, 2015. "Hydropower Economics," International Series in Operations Research and Management Science, Springer, edition 2, number 978-1-4899-7519-5, December.
    18. Joskow, Paul L & Tirole, Jean, 1999. "Transmission Rights and Market Power on Electric Power Networks I: Financial Rights," CEPR Discussion Papers 2093, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Rangel, Luiz Fernando, 2008. "Competition policy and regulation in hydro-dominated electricity markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 1292-1302, April.
    20. Gasmi, Farid & Oviedo, Juan Daniel, 2009. "Investment in Transport Infrastructure, and Gas-Gas Competition," TSE Working Papers 09-121, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7868. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.