Do Two Electricity Pricing Wrongs Make a Right? Cost Recovery, Externalities, and Efficiency
研究发现美国居民电价普遍高于平均社会边际成本，且存在显著的地理和时间差异，这对污染成本传导、动态定价及可再生能源政策有重要启示。
Economists favor pricing pollution in part so that consumers face the full social marginal cost (SMC) of goods and services. But even absent externalities, retail electricity prices typically exceed private marginal cost, due to a utility’s need to cover average costs. Furthermore, the SMC of electricity can fluctuate widely hour-to-hour, while retail prices do not. We show that residential electricity rates exceed average SMC in most of the US, but there is large geographic and temporal variation. This finding has important implications for pass-through of pollution costs, as well as for policies promoting dynamic pricing, alternative energy, and reduced electricity consumption.