Introducing Competition and Deregulating the British Domestic Energy Markets: a Legal and Economic Discussion

Michael Harker (m.harker@uea.ac.uk) and Catherine Waddams Price (c.waddams@uea.ac.uk)
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Michael Harker: Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia
Catherine Waddams Price: Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia

No 06-20, Working Papers from Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia

Abstract: In this article we chart the development of competition and deregulation of the British retail energy markets, explaining the evolution of competitive constraints when consumers are introduced to supplier choice for the first time. In the context of rising real energy prices for consumers, and continued market power on the part of the incumbents, we address the question of whether the control of pricing practices through the ex post provisions of the general competition law is sufficient to protect consumers. We also explore the issue of whether reliance solely on these provisions is desirable given the uncertainty which surrounds the application of the Chapter II prohibition (governing abuse of dominance), specifically in respect of price discrimination in final markets. We conclude that the outcome of the liberalisation experiment in terms of delivering benefits for consumers is unclear.

Keywords: Energy markets; deregulation; monopoly; competition; dominance; market power; consumer switching; switching behaviour; price rebalancing; ex post and ex ante regulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I38 K21 K23 L12 L41 L51 L94 L95 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2006-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-ene, nep-ind, nep-law, nep-mic and nep-reg
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