The Public Service Company of the Southwest is regulated by an elected
state utility commission. The firm has total assets of $500,000. The
demand function for its services has been estimated as
P = $250 - $.15Q (notice that the coefficient before Q is 15 cents
not 15 dollars)
The firm faces the following total cost function:
TC = $25,000 + $10Q
a. In an unregulated environment, what price would this firm charge,
what output would be produced, what would total profits be, and what
rate of return would the firm earn on its asset base?
b. The firm has proposed charging a price of $100 for each unit of
output. If this is charged, what will be the total profits and the
rate of return earned on the firms asset base? (First determine how
many units will be sold at a price of $100 and go from there.)
c. The commission has ordered the firm to charge a price that will
provide the firm with no more than a 10 percent return on its assets.
What price should the firm charge, what output will be produced, and
what dollar level of profits will be earned? |