Restructuring the US and UK gas industries: regulating pipeline access charges.

Summary The objective of the deregulation of the gas industries is to introduce competition in the supply of gas to end users. The opening up of this access raises two essential questions: should the incumbent operator maintain its supply activity? how to control the tariffs of natural gas transport by pipeline, which remains a natural monopoly? the american and british experiences of gas deregulation offer a particularly interesting insight into these questions, notably because the regulation of transport tariffs is diametrically opposed on either side of the Atlantic. Theoretical analysis of these two modes of control in relation to the principles of productive efficiency and allocative efficiency raises questions about the relevance of a hybrid formula such as that applied in Great Britain since 1997. Since European legislation does not require member states to completely separate transmission from the other activities carried out by incumbent operators, it is necessary to take into account the vertical integration of the system operator in order to complete the analysis of the issues inherent in the definition of the access charge by the regulator.