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Tacit Collusion in Electricity Markets with Uncertain Demand

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  • Richard Benjamin

Abstract

In this paper we model wholesale electricity markets as infinitely repeated games that are played under demand uncertainty. We examine the uniform-price auction and show that symmetric bidding at the price cap constitutes the optimal collusive equilibrium under perfectly inelastic demand in the duopoly and oligopoly models. We further extend our analysis to study the impact of price-responsive demand and cost-asymmetry on the collusive equilibrium. The main implication of our analysis is the importance of a vigilant energy regulatory authority to the success of liberalized electricity markets. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

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  • Richard Benjamin, 2016. "Tacit Collusion in Electricity Markets with Uncertain Demand," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 48(1), pages 69-93, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revind:v:48:y:2016:i:1:p:69-93
    DOI: 10.1007/s11151-015-9481-0
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    Cited by:

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    2. Wu, Jiang & Zou, Liuxin & Gong, Yeming & Chen, Mingyang, 2021. "The anti-collusion dilemma: Information sharing of the supply chain under buyback contracts," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    3. 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).
    4. 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.
    5. Sirin, Selahattin Murat & Camadan, Ercument & Erten, Ibrahim Etem & Zhang, Alex Hongliang, 2023. "Market failure or politics? Understanding the motives behind regulatory actions to address surging electricity prices," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    6. Congjun Rao & Yong Zhao & Junjun Zheng & Mark Goh & Cheng Wang, 2017. "Bidding Behavior and Equilibrium Excursion of Uniform Price Auction Mechanism," Asia-Pacific Journal of Operational Research (APJOR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 34(06), pages 1-17, December.
    7. Leonardo Madio & Aldo Pignataro, 2022. "Collusion Sustainability with a Capacity Constrained Firm," CESifo Working Paper Series 10170, CESifo.
    8. Brown, David P. & Eckert, Andrew & Silveira, Douglas, 2023. "Screening for collusion in wholesale electricity markets: A literature review," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

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