This article argues that competitive electricity markets are prone to the same cycles of boom and bust that appear in commodity markets and in a specialized industry like real estate. The article then demonstrates how boom and bust might appear in the western electricity system using computer simulation. A “business as usual” simulation shows that the west might be at the crest of a building bo...

In the restructured electricity industry, electricity pooling markets are an oligopoly with strategic producers possessing private information (private production cost function). We focus on pooling markets where aggregate demand is represented by a non-strategic agent. We consider demand to be elastic. We propose a market mechanism that has the following features. (F1) It is individually ratio...

The structure of Japan's electricity sector, as modified by legislation in 1995 and 1999, will be reviewed in 2003. At that time, it is likely that further decisions will be made regarding the restructuring of Japan's electricity sector. The objectives of this study are to provide insight into the alternative ways that the sector might be restructured and the experience of other countries that ...