Charges, costs and market power in the deregulated UK electricity retail market

Evens Salies and Catherine Waddams
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Catherine Waddams: University of East Anglia

Industrial Organization from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: The residential UK electricity market was opened for the first time in 1999, introducing choice of supplier, and about 40% of households changed supplier in the first four years. After three years price caps were removed. We review this process and assess the competitiveness of the market by examining how the charges levied by suppliers depend on cost and demand factors for three different payment methods and consumption levels. We also identify signs of additional market power of incumbency and the effect of levying a tariff with no fixed charge. We find that both cost and demand factors affect charges, and the relationship varies for different payment methods and consumption levels; and that tariffs with no fixed element have different effects for different payment methods. We also conclude that considerable market power seems to remain with potentially adverse distributional effects.

Keywords: Electricity Retail; Market Power; Non-linear Tariffs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D43 L13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2004-06-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com and nep-eec
Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 23. To appear in The Energy Journal in July 2004 A .pdf version of this paper is available at
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Related works:
Working Paper: Charges, Costs and Market Power: the Deregulated UK Electricity Retail Market (2005)
Journal Article: Charges, Costs and Market Power: the Deregulated UK Electricity Retail Market (2004)
Journal Article: Charges, Costs and Market Power: the Deregulated UK Electricity Retail Market (2004)
Working Paper: Charges, Costs and Market Power: the Deregulated UK Electricity Retail Market (2004)
Working Paper: Charges, Costs and Market Power: the Deregulated UK Electricity Retail Market (2004)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwpio:0406003

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