We explore how risk aversion affects optimal capacity and pricing decisions within the economic setting of Banker and Hughes (1994). A risk averse firm invests in fixed capacity and sets a product price, but can also purchase spot capacity at higher unit cost. Initial capacity and price are set...

This paper calls into question the fuel neutrality of capacity mechanisms implemented in liberalized electricity markets. The argument relies on two assumptions likely satisfied in practice, first that investors are risk averse and second that markets in risk are incomplete. For the analysis, we...