Market Structure and the Pricing of Electricity and Natural Gas |
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| Authors: | Christopher R. Knittel |
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| Affiliation: | University of California at Davis and University of California Energy Institute Davis, USA; |
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| Abstract: | US Electricity and natural gas markets have traditionally been serviced by one of two market structures. In some markets, electricity and natural gas are sold by a regulated dual-product monopolist, while in other markets, electricity and natural gas are sold by separate regulated single-product monopolies. I analyze whether electricity and natural gas prices depend on the market structure and compare these results to the predictions of a number of theories. The results are most consistent with the political economy theories suggesting that regulators respond to interest group activity. |
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