Liberalization of Electricity Prices: Consequences for the Population of the Southern Zone of the Russian Far East

ERI FEB RAS	Issue's contents	RUS
	Regionalistica 2025 Volume 12 number 6 pages 103-116

Title of the article	Liberalization of Electricity Prices: Consequences for the Population of the Southern Zone of the Russian Far East
Pages	103-116
Author 1	Naiden Svetlana Nikolaevna doctor of economics, professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, deputy director for research Economic Research Institute FEB RAS 153, Tikhookeanskaya Street, Khabarovsk, Russia, 680042 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ORCID: 0000-0002-1647-7853
Author 2	Dyomina Olga Valeryevna candidate of sciences (economics), senior researcher Economic Research Institute FEB RAS 153, Tikhookeanskaya Street, Khabarovsk, Russia, 680042 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ORCID: 0000-0002-7992-5852
Abstract	The article examines the specifics of the population’s demand for electricity and the consequences of implementing a policy of price liberalization in the electricity markets in the regions of the southern zone of the Russian Far East, including the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, Amur Region and the Jewish Autonomous Region. The information base was the official data of the Federal State Statistics Service and the Unified Interdepartmental Information and Statistical System in the context of socio-economic indicators of the subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as the electrical balances of the territories. An assessment of the socio-economic consequences for consumers of the southern zone of the Far East from the transition to the second price zone of the electricity market has been carried out. It is shown that the increase in the level of housing improvement and availability of electrical appliances have the opposite effect on the volume of per capita electricity consumption, contributing to the preservation of high differentiation in the purchasing power of the population. It is noted that the different starting positions of nominal tariffs in the regions of the southern zone of the Far East, which were consolidated on the eve of 2011, continue to reproduce interregional differentiation, despite the policy of regulating and restraining tariff growth for the population over the past 15 years. It has been revealed that the increase in household expenses for electricity in 2010–2024 is due to both an increase in resource consumption and tariff dynamics. It has been established that despite the relatively insignificant contribution of the direct costs of the population to pay for electricity, taken into account in the consumer price index (1,3–2,1%), the population indirectly incurs increased costs of reimbursing the cost of electricity as part of the cost of goods and services (approximately 2,6–5,7% for the economy as a whole), which is influenced by accelerated growth price liberalization. The objective increase in the indirect burden on consumer budgets of the population as a result of the continuation of the price reform for electricity is substantiated.
Code	332.1+338.5+330.564.2
DOI	10.14530/reg.2025.6.103
Keywords	electricity market, price liberalization, population, consumption, income, tariff, purchasing power, Far East
Download	2025-06.103.pdf
For citation	Naiden S.N., Dyomina O.V. Liberalization of Electricity Prices: Consequences for the Population of the Southern Zone of the Russian Far East. Regionalistica [Regionalistics]. 2025. Vol. 12. No. 6. Pp. 103–116. http://dx.doi.org/10.14530/reg.2025.6.103 (In Russian)
References	1. Bashmakov I.A. Improving Energy Efficiency As a Means of Overcoming the Growth Thresholds for Electric and Thermal Energy Tariffs. Voprosy regulirovaniya TEK: Regiony i Federatsiya [Issues of Fuel and Energy Sector Regulation: Regions and the Federation]. 2007. No. 4. Pp. 6–14. (In Russian) 2. Bashmakov I.A. The Indicator of Payment Discipline Is an Integral Parameter of the Success of the Russian Housing and Communal Services Reform. Novosti teplosnabzheniya [Heat Supply News]. 2005. No. 5 (57). Pp. 2–11. (In Russian) 3. Bashmakov I. Readiness and Willingness of Population to Pay for Housing and Communal Services. Voprosy ekonomiki [Voprosy Ekonomiki]. 2004. No. 4. Pp. 136–150. http://dx.doi.org/10.32609/0042-8736-2004-4-136-150 (In Russian) 4. Gaivoronskaya E.A. Elasticity of Demand for Electricity and Regional Effects: A Spatial-Econometric Approach. Prikladnaya ekonometrika = Applied Econometrics. 2020. Vol. 58. Pp. 76–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.22394/1993-7601-2020-58-76-95 (In Russian) 5. Galperova E.V. Analysis of Long-Term Trends in Energy Consumption by Households. Problemy prognozirovaniya [Studies on Russian Economic Development]. 2019. No. 2. Pр. 51–62. (In Russian) 6. Gergert N.I., Lubimova N.G. Problems of Non-payment of Population for Electric Energy. Vestnik universiteta [Vestnik Universiteta]. 2019. No. 6. Рp. 94–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.26425/1816-4277-2019-6-94-99 (In Russian) 7. Dyomina O.V. Liberalization of the Electricity Market in Russia: Assessment of the Consequences of Expanding the Second Price Zone. Prostranstvennaya ekonomika = Spatial Economics. 2025. Vol. 21. No. 3. Pp. 72–101. http://dx.doi.org/10.14530/se.2025.3.072-101 (In Russian) 8. Zolotova I.Yu., Dolmatov I.A., Minkova V.S. Cross-Subsidization in the Electric Power Industry: An Empirical Analysis. Energeticheskaya politika [Energy Policy]. 2017. No. 2. Pp. 51–59. (In Russian) 9. Kukoverov M.V. On Price Elasticity of Electricity Demand. Zhurnal Novoy ekonomicheskoy assotsiatsii = Journal of the New Economic Association. 2019. No. 2 (42). Pp. 70–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.31737/2221-2264-2019-42-2-4 (In Russian) 10. Mishura A.V. Estimation of Households’ Electricity Demand Elasticity in Russia. Vestnik NGU. Seriya. Sotsial’no-ekonomicheskiye nauki = Vestnik NSU. Series: Social and Economics Sciences. 2011. Vol. 11. No. 2. Рр. 92–101. (In Russian) 11. Naiden S.N., Dyomina O.V. Solvent Demand in the Far East Electric and Thermal Energy Markets. Regionalistica [Regionalistics]. 2019. Vol. 6. No. 6. Pp. 64–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.14530/reg.2019.6.64 (In Russian) 12. Nekrasov A.S., Semikashev V.V. Energy Costs in Russian Households. Ekonomicheskiy zhurnal VSHE = HSE Economic Journal. 2006. Vol. 10. No. 3. Pp. 448–470. (In Russian) 13. Global and Russian Energy Outlook 2024. Ed. by A.A. Makarov, V.A. Kulagin, D.A. Grushevenko, A.A. Galkina. Moscow, 2024. 207 p. (In Russian) 14. Tumanyants K. Income Residential Demand Elasticities for Electricity: Do We Need to Differentiate the Tariff? Ekonomicheskaya politika [Economic Policy]. 2020. Vol. 15. No. 4. Pp. 110–137. http://dx.doi.org/10.18288/1994-5124-2020-4-110-137 (In Russian) 15. Shirov A.A., Kolpakov A.Yu. Price Consequences of Development Plans in Electric Power Industry of Russia. Nauchnyye trudy. Institut narodnokhozyaystvennogo prognozirovaniya RAN [Scientific Works. Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences]. 2025. Vol. 23. No. 1. С. 6–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.47711/2076-3182-2025-1-6-21 (In Russian) 16. Nekrasov A.S., Semikashev V.V. Energy Expenditures in Russian Households. Studies on Russian Economic Development. 2005. Vol. 16. No. 6. Pp. 592–597.
Financing
Date