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Transparency in Electricity Markets

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  • von der Fehr, Nils-Henrik M.

    (Dept. of Economics, University of Oslo)

Abstract

The European Commission is introducing new regulations on submission and publication of data in electricity markets (SPDEM) and on wholesale energy market integrity and transparency (REMIT). I discuss issues relevant for undertaking an evaluation such regulations. I argue that, for market performance, more information is not always better; indeed, more information may undermine market performance by facilitating behaviour that is either not cost efficient or aims at exercising market power or establishing and maintaining collusion. Moreover, ensuring rational economic behaviour and an efficient and competitive market outcome does not require general access to information at a very detailed level or with a high degree of immediacy. I conclude that to achieve the aims of efficiently functioning wholesale electricity markets, fair and non-discriminatory access to data and a coherent and consistent view of the European wholesale electricity market, it does not seem advisable to go quite so far with respect to immediacy and detail as intended by the new regulations.

Suggested Citation

  • von der Fehr, Nils-Henrik M., 2013. "Transparency in Electricity Markets," Memorandum 13/2013, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:osloec:2013_013
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. David P. Brown & Andrew Eckert, 2022. "Pricing Patterns in Wholesale Electricity Markets: Unilateral Market Power or Coordinated Behavior?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 168-216, March.
    2. Yan, Jie & Möhrlen, Corinna & Göçmen, Tuhfe & Kelly, Mark & Wessel, Arne & Giebel, Gregor, 2022. "Uncovering wind power forecasting uncertainty sources and their propagation through the whole modelling chain," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    3. Valitov, Niyaz & Maier, Andreas, 2020. "Asymmetric information in the German intraday electricity market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    4. Stefan Bergheimer & Estelle Cantillon & Mar Reguant, 2023. "Price and quantity discovery without commitment," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/368728, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    5. Heilmann, Erik, 2023. "The impact of transparency policies on local flexibility markets in electric distribution networks," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    6. Holmberg, Pär & Tangerås, Thomas & Ahlqvist, Victor, 2018. "Central- versus Self-Dispatch in Electricity Markets," Working Paper Series 1257, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 27 Mar 2019.
    7. Pär Holmberg & Frank Wolak, 2015. "Electricity markets: Designing auctions where suppliers have uncertain costs," Working Papers EPRG 1523, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    8. Viktorija Bobinaite & Marialaura Di Somma & Giorgio Graditi & Irina Oleinikova, 2019. "The Regulatory Framework for Market Transparency in Future Power Systems under the Web-of-Cells Concept," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-26, March.
    9. Anderson, Edward & Holmberg, Pär, 2023. "Multi-Unit Auctions with Uncertain Supply and Single-Unit Demand," Working Paper Series 1460, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    10. Fange, Kari-Anne, 2022. "Electricity retailing and price dispersion," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    11. Esmaeili Aliabadi, Danial & Chan, Katrina, 2022. "The emerging threat of artificial intelligence on competition in liberalized electricity markets: A deep Q-network approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    12. Fatras, Nicolas & Ma, Zheng & Duan, Hongbo & Jørgensen, Bo Nørregaard, 2022. "A systematic review of electricity market liberalisation and its alignment with industrial consumer participation: A comparison between the Nordics and China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    13. Anderson, E. & Holmberg, P., 2023. "Multi-unit auctions with uncertain supply and single-unit demand," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2339, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    14. David P. Brown & Andrew Eckert & James Lin, 2018. "Information and transparency in wholesale electricity markets: evidence from Alberta," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 292-330, December.
    15. Avci, Ezgi & Ketter, Wolfgang & van Heck, Eric, 2018. "Managing electricity price modeling risk via ensemble forecasting: The case of Turkey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 390-403.
    16. Andreas Hefti & Peiyao Shen & Regina Betz, 2019. "Market power and information effects in a multi-unit auction," ECON - Working Papers 320, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    17. Fogelberg, Sara & Lazarczyk, Ewa, 2017. "Wind power volatility and its impact on production failures in the Nordic electricity market," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 96-105.
    18. Brown, David P. & Cajueiro, Daniel O. & Eckert, Andrew & Silveira, Douglas, 2023. "Information and Transparency: Using Machine Learning to Detect Communication," Working Papers 2023-6, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    19. Lazarczyk, Ewa, 2015. "Private and Public Information on the Nordic Intra-Day Electricity Market," Working Paper Series 1064, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    electricity; market performance; information; transparency; regulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
    • L40 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - General
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities

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