Efficient Intertemporal Utility Pricing under Uncertainty

Electric utilities today face increasing competition from substitutes for utility-generated power. As a result, utilities are being forced to reevaluate their pricing policies to address competition from other fuels and potential customer 'bypass' of the utility. This paper extends the analysis of second-best utility pricing to explicitly account for both the short- and long-run price responses of customers with competitive alternatives to utility-generated power. The presence of long-run substitution opportunities reduces the optimal percentage mark-up of price over marginal cost for noncore customers. Uncertainty concerning the substitution response of noncore electricity customers also tends to reduce the optimal price mark-up. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.