Price regulation in the Spanish energy sectors: who benefits?

This paper analyses the distribution of benefits between firms and consumers due to the price regulation of the Spanish energy sectors (electricity, oil fuels and gas) during the decade 1987–1997. To that effect, we compare the actual evolution of energy prices with alternate benchmarks in order to assess the potential existence of a pro-industry or a pro-consumer bias in the pricing policies followed by the regulator. Our results show a pro-industry-biased regulatory context, where consumers benefitted very little from price control. The successive price adjustments over time allowed the companies to keep all the productivity gains and cost reductions and to increase their profitability rates relative to those achieved in the manufacturing sector.