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Competition in Retail Electricity Supply

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  • Stephen C. Littlechild

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis and defence of competition in retail electricity supply. It includes some account of its development in the UK over the last dozen years, to the point where all retail price controls have now been removed. The development of this competition illustrates a number of the themes in Israel Kirzner’s writing - for example, the nature of competition as a process over time, the entrepreneurial and learning nature of this process, the role of marketing in alerting customers, the role of competition in establishing price and in discovering the services and suppliers that customers prefer, and the advantages of competition over regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen C. Littlechild, 2002. "Competition in Retail Electricity Supply," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0227, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:cam:camdae:0227
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    File URL: http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/electricity/publications/wp/ep09.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fortin, Pierre & Keil, Manfred & Symons, James, 2001. "The Sources of Unemployment in Canada, 1967-91: Evidence from a Panel of Regions and Demographic Groups," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(1), pages 67-93, January.
    2. Littlechild, Stephen C, 2003. "Wholesale Spot Price Pass-Through," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 61-91, January.
    3. Paul L. Joskow, 2001. "California's Electricity Crisis," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(3), pages 365-388.
    4. Goulding, A. J. & Rufin, Carlos & Swinand, Gregory, 1999. "The Role of Vibrant Retail Electricity Markets in Assuring that Wholesale Power Markets Operate Effectively," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 12(10), pages 61-73, December.
    5. Stephen C. Littlechild, 2001. "Competition And Regulation In The U.K. Electricity Industry (With A Brief Look At California)," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 13(4), pages 21-38, January.
    6. Littlechild, S.C., 2000. "Why We Need Electricity Retailers: A Reply to Joskow on Wholesale Spot Price pass-through," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0008, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    7. M.E. Beesley & S.C. Littlechild, 1989. "The Regulation of Privatized Monopolies in the United Kingdom," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 20(3), pages 454-472, Autumn.
    8. Demsetz, Harold, 1969. "Information and Efficiency: Another Viewpoint," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, April.
    9. Richard Green & Tanga McDaniel, 1998. "Competition in electricity supply: will ‘1998’ Be worth it?," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 19(3), pages 273-293, August.
    10. SC Littlechild, 2001. "Ludwig Lachmann Memorial Lecture," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 69(4), pages 583-613, December.
    11. Watts, Price C., 2001. "Heresy? The Case Against Deregulation of Electricity Generation," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 19-24, May.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Nils-Henrik M. von der Fehr & Petter Vegard Hansen, 2010. "Electricity Retailing in Norway," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 25-46.
    2. Stagnaro, Carlo & Amenta, Carlo & Di Croce, Giulia & Lavecchia, Luciano, 2020. "Managing the liberalization of Italy's retail electricity market: A policy proposal☆," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    3. Özbuğday, Fatih Cemil & Öğünlü, Bilal & Alma, Hasan, 2016. "The sustainability of Turkish electricity distributors and last-resort electricity suppliers: What did transition from vertically integrated public monopoly to regulated competition with privatized an," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 50-67.
    4. Dominique Finon, 2011. "Investment and Competition in Decentralized Electricity Markets: How to Overcome Market Failure by Market Imperfections?," Chapters, in: Jean-Michel Glachant & Dominique Finon & Adrien de Hauteclocque (ed.), Competition, Contracts and Electricity Markets, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Littlechild, Stephen, 2006. "Competition and contracts in the Nordic residential electricity markets," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 135-147, September.
    6. Danias, Nikolaos & Kim Swales, John & McGregor, Peter, 2013. "The Greek Electricity Market Reforms: Political and Regulatory Considerations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1040-1047.
    7. Galetovic, Alexander & Muñoz, Cristián M., 2011. "Regulated electricity retailing in Chile," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 6453-6465, October.
    8. Esplin, Ryan & Davis, Ben & Rai, Alan & Nelson, Tim, 2020. "The impacts of price regulation on price dispersion in Australia's retail electricity markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    9. Defeuilley, Christophe, 2009. "Retail competition in electricity markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 377-386, February.
    10. Palacios M., Sebastián & Saavedra P., Eduardo, 2017. "Alternative policies for the liberalization of retail electricity markets in Chile," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 72-92.
    11. Boroumand, Raphaël Homayoun & Zachmann, Georg, 2012. "Retailers' risk management and vertical arrangements in electricity markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 465-472.
    12. repec:ipg:wpaper:2013-018 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Yuanjing Li, 2014. "Vertical Structure and Forward Contract in Electricity Market," Working Papers 2014-117, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    competition; electricity; regulation; Austrian economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • B53 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Austrian

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