Antitrust Regulation of the Wholesale Market for Electric Energy and Capacity

The article examines problems in the application of antitrust legislation to the wholesale market for electric energy and capacity in the Russian Federation. The key features of the wholesale electricity market that determine the specifics of antitrust regulation are revealed: technological dependence on infrastructure, impossibility of storing electricity, the need for instant balancing of supply and demand, high barriers to entry and natural concentration of production. The current criteria for determining the dominant position of economic entities and the mechanisms for their application in light of the specific features of the power industry are analyzed. It is noted that existing legal norms contain internal contradictions and do not take into account sectoral characteristics of the electricity market. It is shown that the dominance criteria include elements of entities’ behavior, which contradicts the basic principles of antitrust regulation. It is determined that ex post market modeling violates the principle of legal certainty. The conclusion is drawn that a systemic adjustment of the legislation is necessary, taking into account the technological and economic characteristics of the power sector, including a revision of the dominance criteria and the streamlining of the sanctioning mechanism.