Regulation of district-heating systems

District heating plays a major role in many countries' heating markets. Unlike natural gas and electric power utilities, district-heating systems are commonly not subject to direct economic regulation, particularly with regard to prices. This article examines the possibility of regulating district-heating systems and the difficulties associated with practical implementation using the example of the German district-heating market. It considers, from an economic perspective, regulation of access to district-heating systems as well as regulation of pricing by district-heating systems. Ex-ante and ex-post regulation of retail prices are considered. Finally, some ideas for the further development of district-heating regulation are suggested.

[1]  Patrik Söderholm,et al.  Market opening and third party access in district heating networks , 2011 .

[2]  Fredrik Lagergren,et al.  Re-regulating district heating in Sweden , 2002 .

[3]  P. Joskow.  Regulation of Natural Monopoly , 2007 .

[4]  H. Varian.  Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach , 1987 .

[5]  A. Gautier,et al.  Regulation of an Open Access Essential Facility , 2003 .

[6]  W. Baumol.  Contestable Markets: An Uprising in the Theory of Industry Structure , 1982 .

[7]  S. Negassi,et al.  The nature of market competition and innovation: does competition improve innovation output? , 2014 .

[8]  H. Demsetz.  Information and Efficiency: Another Viewpoint. , 1969 .

[9]  Stefan Hellmer.  Price Responsiveness in District Heating: Single Houses and Residential Buildings—a Cross-Sectional Analysis , 2013 .

[10]  The air quality in Danish urban areas. , 1994, Environmental health perspectives.

[11]  Hasan Hüseyin Erdem,et al.  Techno-economic model for district heating systems , 2014 .

[12]  Martin Höpner.  Determinanten der Quersubventionierung: Ein Vorschlag zur Analyse wirtschaftlicher Liberalisierung , 2006 .

[13]  Joseph E. Stiglitz,et al.  Government Failure vs. Market Failure: Principles of Regulation , 2009 .

[14]  C. Rowley,et al.  Welfare economics and the public regulation of natural monopoly , 1972 .

[15]  Adwin Martens,et al.  The energetic feasibility of CHP compared to the separate production of heat and power , 1998 .

[16]  Pengfei Jie,et al.  Modeling the dynamic characteristics of a district heating network , 2012 .

[17]  Janusz Bialek,et al.  Electricity Network Investment And Regulation For A Low Carbon Future , 2007 .

[18]  Chris Bales,et al.  Decentralized cooling in district heating network : System simulation and parametric study , 2012 .

[19]  P. Arocena,et al.  Price regulation in the Spanish energy sectors: who benefits? , 2002 .

[20]  V. Bilotkach,et al.  The Assessment of Market Power of Hub Airports , 2013 .

[21]  Dick Magnusson,et al.  Swedish district heating—A system in stagnation: Current and future trends in the district heating sector , 2012 .

[22]  W. Baumol,et al.  Contestable Markets and the Theory of Industry Structure , 1982 .

[23]  Poul Erik Grohnheit,et al.  Competition in the market for space heating. District heating as the infrastructure for competition among fuels and technologies , 2003 .

[24]  The 'Waterbed' Effect and Price Regulation , 2007 .