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Unit-Contingent Power Purchase Agreement and Asymmetric Information About Plant Outage

Author

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  • Owen Q. Wu

    (Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105)

  • Volodymyr Babich

    (McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057)

Abstract

This paper analyzes a unit-contingent power purchase agreement between an electricity distributor and a power plant. Under such a contract the distributor pays the plant a fixed price if the plant is operational and nothing if plant outage occurs. Pricing a unit-contingent contract is complicated by the fact that the plant's true status is its private information. The difference between the electricity spot price and the unit-contingent contract price provides an incentive for the plant to misreport its status and earn profit at the distributor's expense. To prevent misreporting, the distributor may inspect the plant and levy penalties if misreporting is discovered. We find that some type of misreporting under certain circumstances can benefit both the plant and the distributor, because it serves as a risk-allocation mechanism between the two parties. We show that such a risk-allocation mechanism is equivalent to using state-contingent options and prohibiting misreporting.

Suggested Citation

  • Owen Q. Wu & Volodymyr Babich, 2012. "Unit-Contingent Power Purchase Agreement and Asymmetric Information About Plant Outage," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 245-261, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormsom:v:14:y:2012:i:2:p:245-261
    DOI: 10.1287/msom.1110.0362
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Alessio Trivella & Danial Mohseni-Taheri & Selvaprabu Nadarajah, 2023. "Meeting Corporate Renewable Power Targets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 491-512, January.
    2. Schrotenboer, Albert H. & Veenstra, Arjen A.T. & uit het Broek, Michiel A.J. & Ursavas, Evrim, 2022. "A Green Hydrogen Energy System: Optimal control strategies for integrated hydrogen storage and power generation with wind energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    3. 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.
    4. Youngsoo Kim & Yuqian Xu, 2024. "Operational Risk Management: Optimal Inspection Policy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 70(6), pages 4087-4104, June.
    5. Elizabeth J. Durango‐Cohen & Liad Wagman, 2014. "Strategic obfuscation of production capacities," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 61(3), pages 244-267, April.
    6. Heese, H. Sebastian & Kemahlıoğlu-Ziya, Eda, 2016. "Don't ask, don't tell: Sharing revenues with a dishonest retailer," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 248(2), pages 580-592.

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