IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/regeco/v58y2020i1d10.1007_s11149-020-09412-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does electricity competition work for residential consumers? Evidence from demand models for default and competitive residential electricity services

Author

Listed:
  • Agustin J. Ros

    (The Brattle Group
    Brandeis University)

Abstract

Residential electricity competition is under investigation in a number of U.S. states due to alleged market imperfections including consumer behavior that is supposedly inconsistent with rational, economic decision-making. In this paper, I examine these issues and use a panel data of distribution utilities in Illinois during the period 2011–2017 to estimate demand models for regulated and competitive electricity services. I find that residential electricity consumers in Illinois are acting in a manner consistent with standard consumer behavior theory, with price elasticity of demand estimates that are generally in line with those in the literature, ranging between − 0.40 and − 0.60. Importantly, I find evidence that customers served by competitive suppliers are sensitive to the regulated default service price. Specifically, I find that a 1% decrease in the regulated default service price will lead to approximately 0.5% of customers served by competitive suppliers switching to the regulated default service. These findings call into question some of the underpinnings of policymakers’ critique of residential electricity competition.

Suggested Citation

  • Agustin J. Ros, 2020. "Does electricity competition work for residential consumers? Evidence from demand models for default and competitive residential electricity services," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 1-32, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:regeco:v:58:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s11149-020-09412-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11149-020-09412-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11149-020-09412-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11149-020-09412-1?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. Dergiades, Theologos & Tsoulfidis, Lefteris, 2008. "Estimating residential demand for electricity in the United States, 1965-2006," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 2722-2730, September.
    2. Horst Siebert, 1978. "Sector structure in an open economy," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 114(1), pages 124-145, March.
    3. Paul L. Joskow, 2006. "Markets for Power in the United States: An Interim Assessment," The Energy Journal, , vol. 27(1), pages 1-36, January.
    4. Xuejuan Su, 2015. "Have customers benefited from electricity retail competition?," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 146-182, April.
    5. Agustin J. Ros, 2017. "An Econometric Assessment of Electricity Demand in the United States Using Utility-specific Panel Data and the Impact of Retail Competition on Prices," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    6. Anthony Y. C. Koo, 1978. "Land Reform and Economic Development in China," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 230-235, March.
    7. Silk, Julian I. & Joutz, Frederick L., 1997. "Short and long-run elasticities in US residential electricity demand: a co-integration approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 493-513, October.
    8. Zarnikau, Jay & Whitworth, Doug, 2006. "Has electric utility restructuring led to lower electricity prices for residential consumers in Texas?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(15), pages 2191-2200, October.
    9. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    10. O'Shaughnessy, Eric & Heeter, Jenny & Gattaciecca, Julien & Sauer, Jenny & Trumbull, Kelly & Chen, Emily, 2019. "Empowered communities: The rise of community choice aggregation in the United States," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1110-1119.
    11. John Kwoka, 2008. "Restructuring the U.S. Electric Power Sector: A Review of Recent Studies," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 32(3), pages 165-196, May.
    12. Tatyana Deryugina & Alexander MacKay & Julian Reif, 2020. "The Long-Run Dynamics of Electricity Demand: Evidence from Municipal Aggregation," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 86-114, January.
    13. Paul J. Burke and Ashani Abayasekara, 2018. "The Price Elasticity of Electricity Demand in the United States: A Three-Dimensional Analysis," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    14. Paul, Anthony & Myers, Erica & Palmer, Karen, 2009. "A Partial Adjustment Model of U.S. Electricity Demand by Region, Season, and Sector," RFF Working Paper Series dp-08-50, Resources for the Future.
    15. Wolfgang Pesendorfer, 2006. "Behavioral Economics Comes of Age: A Review Essay on Advances in Behavioral Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 44(3), pages 712-721, September.
    16. -, 1978. "Caracteristicas economicas de la poblacion," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 32266, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    17. Swadley, Adam & Yücel, Mine, 2011. "Did residential electricity rates fall after retail competition? A dynamic panel analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7702-7711.
    18. Unknown, 1978. "Gasohol from Grain- The Economic Issues," Economics Statistics and Cooperative Services (ESCS) Reports 142842, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    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. Stephen Littlechild, 2020. "The CMA’s assessment of customer detriment in the UK retail energy market," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 203-230, June.
    2. Uddin, Gazi Salah & Hasan, Md. Bokhtiar & Phoumin, Han & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Ahmed, Ali & Troster, Victor, 2023. "Exploring the critical demand drivers of electricity consumption in Thailand," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    3. Bowen, William M. & Hill, Edward (Ned) & Thomas, Andrew & Liu, Ruoran & Henning, Mark, 2023. "Consumer price effects of deregulated electric generation markets: The case of Ohio and the midwestern United States," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Stephen Littlechild, 2021. "The challenge of removing a mistaken price cap," Economic Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 391-415, October.

    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. Agustin J. Ros, 2017. "An Econometric Assessment of Electricity Demand in the United States Using Utility-specific Panel Data and the Impact of Retail Competition on Prices," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4).
    2. Zarnikau, J. & Cao, K.H. & Qi, H.S. & Woo, C.K., 2023. "Has retail competition reduced residential electricity prices in Texas?," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Christoph Breunig & Patrick Burauel, 2021. "Testability of Reverse Causality Without Exogenous Variation," Papers 2107.05936, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2024.
    4. Uddin, Gazi Salah & Hasan, Md. Bokhtiar & Phoumin, Han & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad & Ahmed, Ali & Troster, Victor, 2023. "Exploring the critical demand drivers of electricity consumption in Thailand," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    5. Victor Aguirregabiria & Jesus Carro, 2021. "Identification of Average Marginal Effects in Fixed Effects Dynamic Discrete Choice Models," Working Papers tecipa-701, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    6. Woodcock, Simon D., 2020. "The Effect of the Hartz Labor Market Reforms on Post-unemployment Wages, Sorting, and Matching," IZA Discussion Papers 13300, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. G. Naline & Brinda Viswanathan, 2017. "Predictors of Age-Specific Childhood Mortality in India," Working Papers 2017-167, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    8. Segarra, Ignacio & Atanasova, Christina & Figuerola-Ferretti, Isabel, 2024. "Electricity markets regulations: The financial impact of the global energy crisis," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    9. Simone Di Leo & Marta Chicca & Cinzia Daraio & Andrea Guerrini & Stefano Scarcella, 2022. "A Framework for the Analysis of the Sustainability of the Energy Retail Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-28, June.
    10. Tsai, Chen-Hao & Tsai, Yi-Lin, 2018. "Competitive retail electricity market under continuous price regulation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 274-287.
    11. Alexander Hill, 2023. "Price freezes and gas pass-through: an estimation of the price impact of electricity market restructuring," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 87-116, April.
    12. Csereklyei, Zsuzsanna, 2020. "Price and income elasticities of residential and industrial electricity demand in the European Union," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    13. Hochman, Gal & Zilberman, David, 2021. "Optimal environmental taxation in response to an environmentally-unfriendly political challenger," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    14. McDaniel, Tanga M. & Groothuis, Peter A., 2012. "Retail competition in electricity supply—Survey results in North Carolina," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 315-321.
    15. Pourazarm, Elham & Cooray, Arusha, 2013. "Estimating and forecasting residential electricity demand in Iran," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 546-558.
    16. Keighton R. Allen & Thomas M. Fullerton, 2019. "Metropolitan Evidence Regarding Small Commercial and Industrial Electricity Consumption," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(6), pages 1-11.
    17. Brown, David P. & Eckert, Andrew, 2018. "The effect of default rates on retail competition and pricing decisions of competitive retailers: The case of Alberta," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 298-311.
    18. Bowen, William M. & Hill, Edward (Ned) & Thomas, Andrew & Liu, Ruoran & Henning, Mark, 2023. "Consumer price effects of deregulated electric generation markets: The case of Ohio and the midwestern United States," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    19. Juyong Lee & Youngsang Cho & Yoonmo Koo & Chansoo Park, 2018. "Effects of Market Reform on Facility Investment in Electric Power Industry: Panel Data Analysis of 27 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, September.
    20. Tin Cheuk Leung & Kwok Ping Ping & Kevin K. Tsui, 2019. "What can deregulators deregulate? The case of electricity," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 1-32, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Retail electricity competition; Electricity demand and pricing; Residential default service; Econometric modelling; Community choice aggregation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities

    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:kap:regeco:v:58:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s11149-020-09412-1. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.