The deregulation effects of Finnish electricity markets on district heating prices

This paper investigates an empirical econometric panel data model in order to test deregulation and regional market structure effects on district heating prices in Finland for period 1996-2002. The data was collected from 76 district heating firms throughout Finland. Special emphasis is placed on the modeling of policy-induced competition, which began in year 1999, regional based fuel selection, local market structures, and distribution network sharing effects. The results imply that the local structures of energy production and sales have an important role to play in the formation of market prices and that the price lowering effects of energy market deregulation are permanent.