Do Two Electricity Pricing Wrongs Make a Right? Cost Recovery, Externalities, and Efficiencyt

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Borenstein, Severin; Bushnell, James B.
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of California System; University of California Davis
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20190758
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 80-110
• 关键词: natural-gas; environmental benefits; renewable energy; 2-part tariffs; management; policies; PRIVATE; equity

摘要

Economists favor pricing pollution in part so that consumers face the full social marginal cost (SMC) of goods and services. But even absent externalities, retail electricity prices typically exceed private marginal cost, due to a utility's need to cover average costs. Furthermore, the SMC of electricity can fluctuate widely hour-to-hour, while retail prices do not. We show that residential electricity rates exceed average SMC in most of the US, but there is large geographic and temporal variation. This finding has import-ant implications for pass-through of pollution costs, as well as for policies promoting dynamic pricing, alternative energy, and reduced electricity consumption. (JEL D62, L94, L98, Q42, Q53)