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Perspective on Power
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Perspective on Power

A 1974 report to the Energy Policy Project of the Ford Foundation that examines the economic, legal and political dimensions of the electric power industry and offers a series of intermediate and long-term policy recommendations. Attempts to clear up misunderstandings between industry, economists, environmentalists and utility commissioners.

Berlin, Edward et al
1974
191 pages

Contents
List Of Tables and Figures
Foreword
Authors' Preface: Footnotes
Preface
Acknowledgments
Principle Policy Recommendations: I. Tariff Design: the Imperative of Peak Load Pricing; II. The Inclusion of Externalities in Tariffs; III. Interim Leadership at the Federal Level; IV. Early Disclosure of Utility Plans; V. an Ultimate Regulatory Restructuring; VI. The Restructuring of Industry
Chapter One Recent Cost Trends: Rising Factor Prices; Technical Change; Stringent Environmental and Safety Requirements; Economies of Scale
Chapter Two Pricing: Its Relevance: Typical Rate Structures; Rate Design Criteria; Economic Principles for Pricing Electricity; Decreasing Costs, Price Discrimination, and Load Leveling
Chapter Three Pricing: Its Potential: Peak Load Pricing; Deriving the Appropriate Pricesa; Tariffs Under Peak Load Pricing; Objections Overruled; Interim Proposals for Improving Electricity Pricing; Inflation; A Summary Argument
Chapter Four the Regulatory Framework: Introduction; Federal Power Commission and State Regulatory Agencies; Securities and Exchange Commission; Atomic Energy Commission
Chapter Five Reorganizing Regulation: Questions and Suggestions; Regional Commissions
Chapter Six Restructuring the Electric Power Industry: Concentration and Competition; Interaction
Appendix a Defining and Measuring the Price Elasticity of Demand for Electricity: Previous Studies of the Demand for Electric Powera; The Identification Problem
Appendix B Some Mathematics of Public Utility Pricing: a Synthesis of Marginal Cost Pricing, Regulatory Constraints, Averch- Johnson Bias, and Peak Load Pricing and Block Pricing: Marginal Cost Pricing; The Revenue Constraint; Peak Load Pricing; Relaxing the Demand Independence Assumption; Averch-Johnson Output Bias; Summary; Postscript: Block Pricing and Regulated Firms
Appendix C Other Federal Power Agencies: Bonneville Power Administration; The Southwestern, Southeastern, and Alaska Power Administration; Bureau of Reclamation; The Rural Electrification Program; Tennessee Valley Authority
Bibliography
Reviewer Comment
Index
About the Authors

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