IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v103y2017icp105-115.html

Impact of electricity deregulation in the state of California

Author

Listed:
  • Razeghi, Ghazal
  • Shaffer, Brendan
  • Samuelsen, Scott

Abstract

The electric industry started as a natural monopoly and was regulated to protect the customers from high prices. Electricity deregulation was expected to reduce prices by introducing competitive markets. Every country or state implementing deregulation has gone through a unique experience. In this paper, the impact of electricity deregulation in the state of California is addressed by first examining historical retail prices, and second by developing a model to estimate the grid marginal costs using historical data. Results show that, although some customers pay lower rates today, the average customer does not pay a lower rate due to deregulation. Moreover, the results of the modeling show that the wholesale prices realized were higher than the marginal cost associated with the grid. Impacts of improved grid management are discussed along with transmission investments, market operator start-up and operation costs, energy and environmental goals, advances in technology on electricity prices, and the impact of deregulation on these factors.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:103:y:2017:i:c:p:105-115
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2017.01.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421517300149
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.01.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:aen:journl:dn-se-a03 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. 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.
    3. Isemonger, Alan G., 2009. "Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade: A Nodal Implementation," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(8), pages 72-81, October.
    4. Apt, Jay, 2005. "Competition Has Not Lowered U.S. Industrial Electricity Prices," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 52-61, March.
    5. Severin Borenstein & James Bushnell, 2015. "The US Electricity Industry After 20 Years of Restructuring," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 437-463, August.
    6. John Kwoka, 2008. "Restructuring the U.S. Electric Power Sector: A Review of Recent Studies," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 32(3), pages 165-196, May.
    7. Paul Joskow & Edward Kahn, 2001. "A Quantitative Analysis of Pricing Behavior in California's Wholesale Electricity Market During Summer 2000," NBER Working Papers 8157, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Thomas Klitgaard & Rekha Reddy, 2000. "Lowering electricity prices through deregulation," Current Issues in Economics and Finance, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 6(Dec).
    9. repec:aen:journl:2002v23-04-a01 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Kuang, Yonghong & Zhang, Yongjun & Zhou, Bin & Li, Canbing & Cao, Yijia & Li, Lijuan & Zeng, Long, 2016. "A review of renewable energy utilization in islands," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 504-513.
    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. Wakiyama, Takako & Zusman, Eric, 2021. "The impact of electricity market reform and subnational climate policy on carbon dioxide emissions across the United States: A path analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    2. Castro Pérez, José E. & Flores, Daniel, 2023. "The effect of retail price regulation on the wholesale price of electricity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    3. Shayegh, Soheil & Sanchez, Daniel L., 2021. "Impact of market design on cost-effectiveness of renewable portfolio standards," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    4. Simone Di Leo & Marta Chicca & Cinzia Daraio & Andrea Guerrini & Stefano Scarcella, 2022. "A Framework for the Analysis of the Sustainability of the Energy Retail Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-28, June.
    5. Harun Or Rashid Howlader & Oludamilare Bode Adewuyi & Ying-Yi Hong & Paras Mandal & Ashraf Mohamed Hemeida & Tomonobu Senjyu, 2019. "Energy Storage System Analysis Review for Optimal Unit Commitment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, December.
    6. Chen, Wei-Ming, 2019. "The U.S. electricity market twenty years after restructuring: A review experience in the state of Delaware," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 24-32.
    7. Kinnon, Michael Mac & Razeghi, Ghazal & Samuelsen, Scott, 2021. "The role of fuel cells in port microgrids to support sustainable goods movement," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    8. Ruhang Xu & Zhilin Liu & Zhuangzhuang Yu, 2019. "Exploring the Profitability and Efficiency of Variable Renewable Energy in Spot Electricity Market: Uncovering the Locational Price Disadvantages," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-30, July.
    9. Yaseen GHULAM, 2018. "The Impact Of Reforms And Privatization On Firms’ Conduct In The Presence Of Interconnected Conglomerates And Weak And Inefficient Regulatory Institutions," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(4), pages 599-622, December.
    10. Kayo MURAKAMI & Takanori IDA, 2019. "Deregulation and status quo bias: Evidence from stated and revealed switching behaviors in the electricity market in Japan," Discussion papers e-19-001, Graduate School of Economics , Kyoto University.
    11. Heloísa P. Burin & Julio S. M. Siluk & Graciele Rediske & Carmen B. Rosa, 2020. "Determining Factors and Scenarios of Influence on Consumer Migration from the Regulated Market to the Deregulated Electricity Market," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-18, December.
    12. Ahmed, Tauqir & Bhatti, Arshad Ali, 2019. "Do power sector reforms affect electricity prices in selected Asian countries?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 1253-1260.
    13. Chung, Sum Yue & Xu, Yuan, 2020. "Reliability and resilience in a regulated electricity market: Hong Kong under Typhoon Mangkhut," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    14. Balli, Faruk & Balli, Hatice Ozer & Hoxha, Indrit & Nguyen, Hannah & Dang, Tam Hoang Nhat, 2026. "Energy market deregulation: A new perspective on dividend smoothing," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    15. Valadkhani, Abbas & Nguyen, Jeremy & Smyth, Russell, 2018. "Consumer electricity and gas prices across Australian capital cities: Structural breaks, effects of policy reforms and interstate differences," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 365-375.

    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. Alexander Hill, 2023. "Price freezes and gas pass-through: an estimation of the price impact of electricity market restructuring," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 87-116, April.
    2. Zarnikau, J. & Cao, K.H. & Qi, H.S. & Woo, C.K., 2023. "Has retail competition reduced residential electricity prices in Texas?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Bernstein, David H. & Parmeter, Christopher F., 2019. "Returns to scale in electricity generation: Replicated and revisited," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 4-15.
    4. 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.
    5. Martin Bichler & Hans Ulrich Buhl & Johannes Knörr & Felipe Maldonado & Paul Schott & Stefan Waldherr & Martin Weibelzahl, 2022. "Electricity Markets in a Time of Change: A Call to Arms for Business Research," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 74(1), pages 77-102, March.
    6. repec:aen:journl:ej38-4-ros is not listed on IDEAS
    7. David P. Brown & Derek E. H. Olmstead, 2017. "Measuring market power and the efficiency of Alberta's restructured electricity market: An energy-only market design," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 50(3), pages 838-870, August.
    8. Bowen, William M. & Hill, Edward (Ned) & Thomas, Andrew & Liu, Ruoran & Henning, Mark, 2023. "Consumer price effects of deregulated electric generation markets: The case of Ohio and the midwestern United States," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Ajayi, V. & Weyman-Jones, T., 2021. "State-Level Electricity Generation Efficiency: Do Restructuring and Regulatory Institutions Matter in the US?," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2166, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    10. Hirsch, Adam & Parag, Yael & Guerrero, Josep, 2018. "Microgrids: A review of technologies, key drivers, and outstanding issues," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 402-411.
    11. Severin Borenstein & James Bushnell, 2015. "The US Electricity Industry After 20 Years of Restructuring," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 437-463, August.
    12. Brehm, Paul A. & Zhang, Yiyuan, 2021. "The efficiency and environmental impacts of market organization: Evidence from the Texas electricity market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    13. Castro Pérez, José E. & Flores, Daniel, 2023. "The effect of retail price regulation on the wholesale price of electricity," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    14. Theodorou, Petros & Karyampas, Dimitrios, 2008. "Modeling the return and volatility of the Greek electricity marginal system price," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 2601-2609, July.
    15. Guohua Feng & Jiti Gao & Xiaohui Zhang, 2018. "Estimation of technical change and price elasticities: a categorical time–varying coefficient approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 117-138, December.
    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. David P. Brown & David E. M. Sappington, 2022. "Vertical integration and capacity investment in the electricity sector," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 193-226, February.
    18. 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.
    19. 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.
    20. 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.
    21. Ajayi, Victor & Weyman-Jones, Tom, 2021. "State-level electricity generation efficiency: Do restructuring and regulatory institutions matter in the US?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:eee:enepol:v:103:y:2017:i:c:p:105-115. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    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.