Residential Electricity Tariffs in Uruguay: In Search for Efficiency Gains while Protecting Low-Income Households

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Peer Reviewed icon Peer Reviewed
Date issued
Apr 2020
Subject
Energy Efficiency;
Residential Energy Consumption;
Income Distribution;
Electricity Market;
Electricity Tariff;
Electricity Consumption;
Energy Distribution
JEL code
L94 - Electric Utilities;
L11 - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure • Size Distribution of Firms;
L13 - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
Country
Uruguay
Category
Technical Notes
Prices transmit information and guide consumption and production decisions. In electricity markets prices usually do not reflect marginal costs of production, and therefore there are opportunities for efficiency gains by rebalancing tariffs. The objective of this paper is twofold. The first goal is to assess the inefficiencies of existing residential electricity tariffs in Uruguay, and some possible long-term consequences for the public electricity companys finances if they are not corrected. The second goal is to study alternative pricing mechanisms that avoid incentives for inefficient behavior, while protecting low-income households. The estimated deadweight loss under the current tariff structure and residential electricity consumption is estimated at 1.2 percent of the total consumer surplus (USD 37 million).