IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v145y2020ics0301421520304559.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Competition in smart distribution grids

Author

Listed:
  • Bertolini, Marina
  • Buso, Marco
  • Greco, Luciano

Abstract

Smart grids are often considered a cornerstone of energy transition and market liberalization in electric industries. From a critical reading of the interdisciplinary academic and governmental literature, we draw a new definition of grid smartness that is based on the reduction of the volatility of market prices and flows. Then, relying on a simple industrial-organization model of the electric market, we analyze the impact of smart grids on competition among energy suppliers and on the incentives of distribution system operators to invest in it. We show that the risk-reduction effect of smart grids pushes firms to supply more energy. However, the latter can be compensated by an indirect competition effect of investments in smart grids which prevents the entry of firms into the market, though the aggregate effect on energy supply is always positive. We also find that distribution system operators under-invest in smart grids because they fail to internalize positive externalities on energy consumers and producers.

Suggested Citation

  • Bertolini, Marina & Buso, Marco & Greco, Luciano, 2020. "Competition in smart distribution grids," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:145:y:2020:i:c:s0301421520304559
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111729
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421520304559
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111729?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Labandeira, Xavier & Labeaga, José M. & López-Otero, Xiral, 2017. "A meta-analysis on the price elasticity of energy demand," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 549-568.
    2. Bertolini, Marina & D'Alpaos, Chiara & Moretto, Michele, 2018. "Do Smart Grids boost investments in domestic PV plants? Evidence from the Italian electricity market," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 890-902.
    3. David Martimort & Flavio Menezes & Myrna Wooders & ELISABETTA IOSSA & DAVID MARTIMORT, 2015. "The Simple Microeconomics of Public-Private Partnerships," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 17(1), pages 4-48, February.
    4. Cambini, Carlo & Meletiou, Alexis & Bompard, Ettore & Masera, Marcelo, 2016. "Market and regulatory factors influencing smart-grid investment in Europe: Evidence from pilot projects and implications for reform," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 36-47.
    5. Ropenus, Stephanie & Jensen, Stine Grenaa, 2009. "Support schemes and vertical integration--Who skims the cream?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 1104-1115, March.
    6. Ruester, Sophia & Schwenen, Sebastian & Batlle, Carlos & Pérez-Arriaga, Ignacio, 2014. "From distribution networks to smart distribution systems: Rethinking the regulation of European electricity DSOs," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 229-237.
    7. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-01109351 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Paul L. Joskow, 2012. "Creating a Smarter U.S. Electricity Grid," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(1), pages 29-48, Winter.
    9. Cambini, Carlo & Soroush, Golnoush, 2019. "Designing grid tariffs in the presence of distributed generation," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    10. Nils‐Henrik M. von der Fehr & Stephanie Ropenus, 2017. "Renewable Energy Policy Instruments and Market Power," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(2), pages 312-345, April.
    11. Lo Schiavo, Luca & Delfanti, Maurizio & Fumagalli, Elena & Olivieri, Valeria, 2013. "Changing the regulation for regulating the change: Innovation-driven regulatory developments for smart grids, smart metering and e-mobility in Italy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 506-517.
    12. Bell, Keith & Gill, Simon, 2018. "Delivering a highly distributed electricity system: Technical, regulatory and policy challenges," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 765-777.
    13. Hall, Stephen & Foxon, Timothy J., 2014. "Values in the Smart Grid: The co-evolving political economy of smart distribution," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 600-609.
    14. Personal, Enrique & Guerrero, Juan Ignacio & Garcia, Antonio & Peña, Manuel & Leon, Carlos, 2014. "Key performance indicators: A useful tool to assess Smart Grid goals," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 976-988.
    15. Espey, James A. & Espey, Molly, 2004. "Turning on the Lights: A Meta-Analysis of Residential Electricity Demand Elasticities," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 36(1), pages 1-17, April.
    16. Cambini, Carlo & Croce, Annalisa & Fumagalli, Elena, 2014. "Output-based incentive regulation in electricity distribution: Evidence from Italy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 205-216.
    17. Buso, Marco & Stenger, Anne, 2018. "Public-private partnerships as a policy response to climate change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 487-494.
    18. McPherson, Madeleine & Tahseen, Samiha, 2018. "Deploying storage assets to facilitate variable renewable energy integration: The impacts of grid flexibility, renewable penetration, and market structure," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 856-870.
    19. Hossain, M.S. & Madlool, N.A. & Rahim, N.A. & Selvaraj, J. & Pandey, A.K. & Khan, Abdul Faheem, 2016. "Role of smart grid in renewable energy: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1168-1184.
    20. de Joode, J. & Jansen, J.C. & van der Welle, A.J. & Scheepers, M.J.J., 2009. "Increasing penetration of renewable and distributed electricity generation and the need for different network regulation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2907-2915, August.
    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. Agostini, Marco & Bertolini, Marina & Coppo, Massimiliano & Fontini, Fulvio, 2021. "The participation of small-scale variable distributed renewable energy sources to the balancing services market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    2. Ayyoob Sharifi & Zaheer Allam & Bakhtiar Feizizadeh & Hessam Ghamari, 2021. "Three Decades of Research on Smart Cities: Mapping Knowledge Structure and Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-23, June.

    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. Marina Bertolini & Marco Buso & Luciano Greco, 2018. "Competition and Regulation with Smart Grids," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0226, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    2. Soares, N. & Martins, A.G. & Carvalho, A.L. & Caldeira, C. & Du, C. & Castanheira, É. & Rodrigues, E. & Oliveira, G. & Pereira, G.I. & Bastos, J. & Ferreira, J.P. & Ribeiro, L.A. & Figueiredo, N.C. & , 2018. "The challenging paradigm of interrelated energy systems towards a more sustainable future," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 171-193.
    3. Cambini, Carlo & Congiu, Raffaele & Jamasb, Tooraj & Llorca, Manuel & Soroush, Golnoush, 2020. "Energy Systems Integration: Implications for public policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    4. Agostini, Marco & Bertolini, Marina & Coppo, Massimiliano & Fontini, Fulvio, 2021. "The participation of small-scale variable distributed renewable energy sources to the balancing services market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    5. Carlo Cambini & Raffaele Congiu & Golnoush Soroush, 2020. "Regulation, Innovation, and Systems Integration: Evidence from the EU," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, April.
    6. Johansson, Petter & Vendel, Martin & Nuur, Cali, 2020. "Integrating distributed energy resources in electricity distribution systems: An explorative study of challenges facing DSOs in Sweden," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    7. Gaspari, Michele & Lorenzoni, Arturo & Frías, Pablo & Reneses, Javier, 2017. "Integrated Energy Services for the industrial sector: an innovative model for sustainable electricity supply," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 118-127.
    8. Zabaloy, Maria Florencia & Viego, Valentina, 2022. "Household electricity demand in Latin America and the Caribbean: A meta-analysis of price elasticity," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    9. Rancilio, G. & Rossi, A. & Falabretti, D. & Galliani, A. & Merlo, M., 2022. "Ancillary services markets in europe: Evolution and regulatory trade-offs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    10. Cherrelle Eid & Rudi Hakvoort & Martin de Jong, 2016. "Global trends in the political economy of smart grids: A tailored perspective on 'smart' for grids in transition," WIDER Working Paper Series 022, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Farrell, Niall, 2021. "The increasing cost of ignoring Coase: Inefficient electricity tariffs, welfare loss and welfare-reducing technological change," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    12. Ivan Faiella & Luciano Lavecchia, 2021. "Households' energy demand and the effects of carbon pricing in Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 614, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    13. Javier Bueno & Desiderio Romero-Jordán & Pablo del Río, 2020. "Analysing the Drivers of Electricity Demand in Spain after the Economic Crisis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-18, October.
    14. Cambini, Carlo & Soroush, Golnoush, 2019. "Designing grid tariffs in the presence of distributed generation," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    15. Bovera, Filippo & Lo Schiavo, Luca, 2022. "From energy communities to sector coupling:a taxonomy for regulatory experimentation in the age of the European Green Deal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    16. Marques, Vítor & Costa, Paulo Moisés & Bento, Nuno, 2022. "Greater than the sum: On regulating innovation in electricity distribution networks with externalities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Woo, C.K. & Liu, Y. & Zarnikau, J. & Shiu, A. & Luo, X. & Kahrl, F., 2018. "Price elasticities of retail energy demands in the United States: New evidence from a panel of monthly data for 2001–2016," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 460-474.
    18. Meletiou, Alexis & Cambini, Carlo & Masera, Marcelo, 2018. "Regulatory and ownership determinants of unbundling regime choice for European electricity transmission utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 13-25.
    19. Aurelie Tricoire, 2015. "Uncertainty, vision, and the vitality of the emerging smart grid," Post-Print hal-02351994, HAL.
    20. Andruszkiewicz, Jerzy & Lorenc, Józef & Weychan, Agnieszka, 2020. "Seasonal variability of price elasticity of demand of households using zonal tariffs and its impact on hourly load of the power system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Electricity markets; Smart grids; Investment regulation; Risk aversion; Distribution system operator;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • L52 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Industrial Policy; Sectoral Planning Methods
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices
    • Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
    • Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy

    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:145:y:2020:i:c:s0301421520304559. 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.