Market Organization and Market Efficiency in Electricity Markets

Abstract

Electricity markets in the United States exhibit two different forms of organization: decentralized bilateral trading and centralized auction markets. Using detailed data on prices, quantities, and production costs, we examine how market outcomes changed when a large region in the Eastern US rapidly switched from a bilateral system of trade to a well-designed centralized auction market in 2004. Although economic theory yields ambiguous predictions, the empirical evidence indicates that shifting the venue of trade substantially improved overall market efficiency, and that these efficiency gains far exceeded implementation costs. Our analysis points to the merits of organized market institutions for electricity, a central issue in policy debates over market-oriented regulatory reforms.