報告書番号

Y06011

タイトル（和文）

電力の自由化と電気料金の変化に関する分析－潜在的競争圧力の影響－

タイトル（英文）

An Empirical Analysis of the Electricity Prices after Liberalization in the Japanese Electric Power Industry -The Impact of Potential Competition-

概要 （図表や脚注は「報告書全文」に掲載しております）

日本の電力市場では，部分自由化以降，新規参入者のシェアは小さいまま，一般電気事業者間の直接競争もほとんどないが，電気料金は着実に低下してきた。本稿では，計量経済学的な分析によって，一般電気事業者に対して，自由化対象の需要家，自家発，他の一般電気事業者などからの潜在的競争圧力が働き，電力料金が限界費用に近づいたという効果を示すとともに，過去15年間の料金の低下を促してきたことを明らかにした。

概要 （英文）

This report empirically analyzes the electricity prices of the Japanese electric utilities to investigate the effect of liberalization of the electricity market. We first review the recent development of the Japanese electricity retail prices by making international comparison. We show that although the Japanese electricity prices are still higher than some other countries, the price differential has been reduced significantly over the last 5 years. We then analyze the impact of potential competition in retail electricity market on the pricing behavior of electric utilities after liberalization. We model the price-cost margin as a function of potential competitive pressures as indicated by the shares of eligible customers (commercial customers and large industrial customers), the self-generation capacity, and prices of other neighboring utilities. We found statistically significant effect of these potential competitive pressures to prevent the electricity prices from rising above the marginal cost. Except for the large industrial customers, they have contributed to the price reduction during the past 15 years.

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