IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rff/dpaper/dp-05-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Alleged Transmission Undersupply: Is Restructuring the Cure or the Cause?

Author

Listed:
  • Brennan, Timothy

    (Resources for the Future)

Abstract

Widespread concern over transmission capacity requires theoretical support to infer inadequacy from observed trends indicating reductions in the ratio of transmission to generation capacity over time. If integrated utilities had been regulated with allowed returns exceeding capital costs, transmission-generation ratios would have been excessive, and observed trends might be a correction. However, numerous commentators claim that post-restructuring transmission rates have been too low, with NIMBY also discouraging investment. We model the possibility that inadequate separation between generation and transmission may result in reduced investment, in order to preserve incumbent market power in generation. However, consideration of transmission price caps and coordinated generation investment support other analyses that conclude that vertical separation itself may be a culprit.

Suggested Citation

  • Brennan, Timothy, 2005. "Alleged Transmission Undersupply: Is Restructuring the Cure or the Cause?," RFF Working Paper Series dp-05-50, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-05-50
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.rff.org/RFF/documents/RFF-DP-05-50.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kelly, Susan & Moody, Diane, 2005. "Wholesale Electric Restructuring: Was 2004 the "Tipping Point"?," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 11-18, March.
    2. Kaserman, David L & Mayo, John W, 1991. "The Measurement of Vertical Economies and the Efficient Structure of the Electric Utility Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 483-502, September.
    3. Kwoka, John E., 2002. "Vertical economies in electric power: evidence on integration and its alternatives," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 653-671, May.
    4. Joskow, Paul L & Tirole, Jean, 1999. "Transmission Rights and Market Power on Electric Power Networks I: Financial Rights," CEPR Discussion Papers 2093, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Pittman Russell, 2005. "Structural Separation to Create Competition? The Case of Freight Railways," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 4(3), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Reiffen, David, 1998. "A Regulated Firm's Incentive to Discriminate: A Reevaluation and Extension of Weisman's Result," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 79-86, July.
    7. Stagliano, Vito & Hayden, Jolly, 2004. "The Electric Transmission Paradox," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 37-46, March.
    8. Brennan, Timothy J, 1989. "Regulating by Capping Prices," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 133-147, June.
    9. Severin Borenstein & James. Bushnell & Steven Stoft, 2000. "The Competitive Effects of Transmission Capacity in A Deregulated Electricity Industry," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(2), pages 294-325, Summer.
    10. Buehler, Stefan & Schmutzler, Armin & Benz, Men-Andri, 2004. "Infrastructure quality in deregulated industries: is there an underinvestment problem?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 253-267, February.
    11. Timothy J. Brennan, 2005. "Regulation and Competition as Complements," Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy, in: Michel A. Crew & Michael A. Crew & Menahem Spiegel (ed.), Obtaining the Best from Regulation and Competition, chapter 0, pages 1-20, Springer.
    12. Fox-Penner, Peter, 2005. "Rethinking the Grid: Avoiding More Blackouts and Modernizing the Power Grid Will Be Harder than You Think," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 28-42, March.
    13. William J. Baumol & Alvin K. Klevorick, 1970. "Input Choices and Rate-of Return Regulation: An Overview of the Discussion," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 1(2), pages 162-190, Autumn.
    14. Shmuel S. Oren, 1997. "Economic Inefficiency of Passive Transmission Rights in Congested Electricity Systems with Competitive Generation," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 63-83.
    15. Michaels, Robert J., 2004. "Vertical Integration: The Economics that Electricity Forgot," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(10), pages 11-23, December.
    16. Hogan, William W, 1992. "Contract Networks for Electric Power Transmission," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 4(3), pages 211-242, September.
    17. Martzoukos, Spiros H. & Teplitz-Sembitzky, Witold, 1992. "Optimal timing of transmission line investments in the face of uncertain demand : An option valuation approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 3-9, January.
    18. Weisman, Dennis L, 1995. "Regulation and the Vertically Integrated Firm: The Case of RBOC Entry into Interlata Long Distance," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 249-266, November.
    19. Paul L. Joskow, 1997. "Restructuring, Competition and Regulatory Reform in the U.S. Electricity Sector," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 119-138, Summer.
    20. Moss, Diana L., 2004. "Competition or Reliability in Electricity? What the Coming Policy Shift Means for Restructuring," The Electricity Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 11-28, March.
    21. Brennan, Timothy J, 1990. "Cross-Subsidization and Cost Misallocation by Regulated Monopolists," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 37-51, March.
    22. Michael A. Crew & Paul R. Kleindorfer & John Sumpter, 2005. "Bringing Competition to Telecommunications by Divesting the RBOCs," Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy, in: Michel A. Crew & Michael A. Crew & Menahem Spiegel (ed.), Obtaining the Best from Regulation and Competition, chapter 0, pages 21-40, Springer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Armstrong, Mark & Sappington, David E.M., 2007. "Recent Developments in the Theory of Regulation," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 27, pages 1557-1700, Elsevier.
    2. Karsten Neuhoff, 2003. "Integrating Transmission and Energy Markets Mitigates Market Power," Working Papers EP17, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    3. Mark Armstrong & David E.M. Sappington, 2006. "Regulation, Competition and Liberalization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 44(2), pages 325-366, June.
    4. Growitsch, Christian & Müller, Gernot & Stronzik, Marcus, 2008. "Ownership Unbundling in der Gaswirtschaft: Theoretische Grundlagen und empirische Evidenz," WIK Discussion Papers 308, WIK Wissenschaftliches Institut für Infrastruktur und Kommunikationsdienste GmbH.
    5. 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.
    6. Karsten Neuhoff, 2002. "Optimal congestion treatment for bilateral electricity trading," Working Papers EP05, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    7. Fetz, Aurelio & Filippini, Massimo, 2010. "Economies of vertical integration in the Swiss electricity sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1325-1330, November.
    8. Pär Holmberg & Andy Philpott, 2014. "Supply function equilibria in transportation networks," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1421, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    9. Andreas Ehrenmann & Karsten Neuhoff, 2009. "A Comparison of Electricity Market Designs in Networks," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(2), pages 274-286, April.
    10. Paul Joskow & Jean Tirole, 2005. "Merchant Transmission Investment," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 233-264, June.
    11. Haas, R. & Auer, H., 2006. "The prerequisites for effective competition in restructured wholesale electricity markets," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 857-864.
    12. Joskow, Paul L & Tirole, Jean, 1999. "Transmission Rights and Market Power on Electric Power Networks I: Financial Rights," CEPR Discussion Papers 2093, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Holmberg, Pär & Philpott, Andrew, 2012. "Supply Function Equilibria in Networks with Transport Constraints," Working Paper Series 945, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 10 Aug 2015.
    14. David Mandy & David Sappington, 2007. "Incentives for sabotage in vertically related industries," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 235-260, June.
    15. Höffler, Felix & Kranz, Sebastian, 2007. "Legal Unbundling can be a Golden Mean between Vertical Integration and Separation," Bonn Econ Discussion Papers 15/2007, University of Bonn, Bonn Graduate School of Economics (BGSE).
    16. Severin Borenstein & James Bushnell & Frank Wolak, 2000. "Diagnosing Market Power in California's Restructured Wholesale Electricity Market," NBER Working Papers 7868, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Enzo Sauma & Shmuel Oren, 2006. "Proactive planning and valuation of transmission investments in restructured electricity markets," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 261-290, November.
    18. Richard Green, 2007. "Nodal pricing of electricity: how much does it cost to get it wrong?," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 125-149, April.
    19. Enzo Sauma & Shmuel Oren, 2006. "Proactive planning and valuation of transmission investments in restructured electricity markets," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 358-387, November.
    20. Lusztig, C. & Feldberg, P. & Orans, R. & Olson, A., 2006. "A survey of transmission tariffs in North America," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1017-1039.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    electricity transmission; regulation; deregulation; vertical integration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:rff:dpaper:dp-05-50. 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: Resources for the Future (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rffffus.html .

    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.