电力需求与定价(5)

block of electricity to meet their basic requirement, thus satisfying

sociopolitical objectives. Conversely, if marginal costs

are below average costs-typically as a result of economies of

scale-then pricing at the strict LRMC will lead to a financial

deficit. This will have to be made up, for example, by higher

lump sum connection charges, flat rate, charges, or even government

subsidies.

Another reason for deviating from the strict LRMC arises because

of second-best considerations. When prices elsewhere in

the economy do not reflect marginal costs, especially for electric

power substitutes and complements, then departures from

the strict marginal cost pricing rule for electricity services

would be justified. For example, in rural areas, inexpensive

alternative energy may be available in the form of subsidized

kerosene and/or gas. In this case, pricing electricity below the

LRMC may be justified, to prevent excessive use of the alternative

forms of energy. Similarly, if incentives are provided to

import private generators and their fuel is also subsidized,

then charging the full marginal cost to industrial consumers

may encourage them to purchase their own or captive power

plant. This is economically less efficient from a national perspectives.

Since the computation of strict LRMC is based on

the power utilities least cost expansion program, LRMC may

also need to be modified by short-term considerations if previously

unforeseen events make the long-run system plan suboptimal

in the short run. Typical examples include a sudden

reduction in demand growth and a large excess of installed

capacity that may justify somewhat reduced capacity charges,

or a rapid increase in fuel prices, which could warrant a shortterm

fuel surcharge.

As discussed earlier, the LRMC approach permits a high degree

of tariff structuring. However, data constraints and the

objective of simplifying metering and billing procedures usually

requires that there should be a practical limit to differentiation

of tariffs by: a) major customer categories-residential,

industrial, commercial, special, rural, and so on; b) voltage

levels (high, medium, and low); c) time of day (peak, offpeak);

and d) geographic region. Finally, various other constraints

also may be incorporated into the LRMC based tariffs,

such as the political requirement of having a uniform national

tariff, subsidizing rural electrification, and so on. In each case,

however, such deviations from LRMC will impose an efficiency

cost on the economy.

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