IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/applec/v37y2005i20p2373-2386.html

Electric power distribution: economies of scale, mergers, and restructuring

Author

Listed:
  • John Kwoka

Abstract

Electricity distribution is generally viewed as a natural monopoly and therefore as having the least potential for the kinds of reforms that have swept the electric power sector in many countries. Mergers among distribution companies and efforts at retail competition have nonetheless altered the operation of the distribution stage. This research into US electric utilities uses a much larger and less selective data base than previously available to examine the scale properties of distribution with respect to output, distance, and customer numbers, and for different functions within distribution. It finds significant economies at low output levels, holding system size and customer density constant, but the cost gradient is otherwise modest. It also finds that geographic size and customer numbers are quite important and that economies are significantly stronger for the infrastructure or 'wires' business than for the marketing function performed by distribution utilities. These results lend credence to efforts at retail competition that separates these functions, but cast doubt on the benefits of mergers between distribution systems.

Suggested Citation

  • John Kwoka, 2005. "Electric power distribution: economies of scale, mergers, and restructuring," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(20), pages 2373-2386.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:37:y:2005:i:20:p:2373-2386
    DOI: 10.1080/00036840500309247
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00036840500309247
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00036840500309247?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. Randy A. Nelson. & Walter J. Primeaux, Jr., 1988. "The Effects of Competition on Transmission and Distribution Costs in the Municipal Electric Industry," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 64(4), pages 338-346.
    2. Mark J. Roberts, 1986. "Economies of Density and Size in the Production and Delivery of Electric Power," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 62(4), pages 378-387.
    3. Kaserman, David L & Mayo, John W, 1991. "The Measurement of Vertical Economies and the Efficient Structure of the Electric Utility Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 483-502, September.
    4. repec:bla:scandj:v:94:y:1992:i:0:p:s193-205 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Roller, Lars-Hendrik, 1990. "Proper Quadratic Cost Functions with an Application to the Bell System," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 202-210, May.
    6. A. Yatchew, 2000. "Scale economies in electricity distribution: a semiparametric analysis," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(2), pages 187-210.
    7. Sing, Merrile, 1987. "Are Combination Gas and Electric Utilities Multiproduct Natural Monopolies?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(3), pages 392-398, August.
    8. Jati Sengupta, 1998. "The efficiency distribution in a production cost model," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 125-132.
    9. Lon L. PETERS, 1993. "Non-Profit And For-Profit Electric Utilities In The United States: Pricing And Efficiency," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(4), pages 575-604, July.
    10. Kjell G. Salvanes & Sigve Tjøtta, 1998. "A Test for Natural Monopoly with Application to Norwegian Electricity Distribution," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 13(6), pages 669-685, December.
    11. Meyer, Robert A, 1975. "Publicly Owned Versus Privately Owned Utilities: A Policy Choice," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 57(4), pages 391-399, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Goto, Mika & Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki, 2009. "Productivity growth and deregulation of Japanese electricity distribution," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3130-3138, August.
    2. Sergio Jara-Díaz & Francisco Ramos-Real, 2011. "The effect of output specification on the optimal policy design for electric utilities," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 62-81, August.
    3. Dimitri Dimitropoulos and Adonis Yatchew, 2017. "Is Productivity Growth in Electricity Distribution Negative? An Empirical Analysis Using Ontario Data," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    4. Fetz, Aurelio & Filippini, Massimo, 2010. "Economies of vertical integration in the Swiss electricity sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1325-1330, November.
    5. Ali Akkemik, K., 2009. "Cost function estimates, scale economies and technological progress in the Turkish electricity generation sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 204-213, January.
    6. Goto, Mika & Makhija, Anil K., 2007. "The Impact of Competition and Corporate Structure on Productive Efficiency: The Case of the U.S. Electric Utility Industry, 1990-2004," Working Paper Series 2007-10, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    7. Massimiliano Piacenza & Davide Vannoni, 2009. "Vertical And Horizontal Economies In The Electric Utility Industry: An Integrated Approach," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 80(3), pages 431-450, September.
    8. Kwoka, John E., 2002. "Vertical economies in electric power: evidence on integration and its alternatives," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 653-671, May.
    9. John Kwoka, 2006. "The Role of Competition in Natural Monopoly: Costs, Public Ownership, and Regulation," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 29(1), pages 127-147, September.
    10. Karolis Andriuškevičius & Dalia Štreimikienė, 2021. "Developments and Trends of Mergers and Acquisitions in the Energy Industry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-14, April.
    11. Ramos-Real, Francisco Javier, 2005. "Cost functions and the electric utility industry. A contribution to the debate on deregulation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 69-87, January.
    12. Mehdi Farsi & Aurelio Fetz & Massimo Filippini, 2007. "Economies of Scale and Scope in the Swiss Multi-Utilities Sector," CEPE Working paper series 07-59, CEPE Center for Energy Policy and Economics, ETH Zurich.
    13. Mountain, Bruce R., 2019. "Ownership, regulation, and financial disparity: The case of electricity distribution in Australia," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-1.
    14. Ajayi, Victor & Weyman-Jones, Thomas & Glass, Anthony, 2017. "Cost efficiency and electricity market structure: A case study of OECD countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 283-291.
    15. Tooraj Jamasb & Paul Nillesen & Michael Pollitt, 2003. "Strategic behaviour under regulation benchmarking," Working Papers EP19, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    16. Mirza, Faisal Mehmood & Rizvi, Syed Badar-Ul-Husnain & Bergland, Olvar, 2021. "Service quality, technical efficiency and total factor productivity growth in Pakistan's post-reform electricity distribution companies," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    17. Asantewaa, Adwoa & Jamasb, Tooraj & Llorca, Manuel, 2022. "Reforming Small Electricity Systems: Market Design and Competition," Working Papers 12-2022, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    18. Harry Bloch & Gary Madden & Grant Coble‐Neal & Scott J. Savage, 2001. "The Cost Structure of Australian Telecommunications," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 77(239), pages 338-350, December.
    19. Casarin, Ariel A., 2007. "Efficient industry configurations in downstream gas markets. An empirical assessment," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 312-328, March.
    20. Paul Nillesen & Michael Pollitt, 2011. "Ownership Unbundling in Electricity Distribution: Empirical Evidence from New Zealand," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 38(1), pages 61-93, January.

    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:taf:applec:v:37:y:2005:i:20:p:2373-2386. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEC20 .

    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.