Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER KARLTON, Chief Judge. Long in gestation, a new theory of liability under the federal antitrust laws was delivered by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Berkey Photo, Inc. v. Eastman Kodak Co., 603 F.2d 263 (2d Cir.1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1093, 100 S.Ct. 1061, 62 L.Ed.2d 783 (1980). For want of a better term, this theory may be described as “monopoly leveraging.” It purportedly derives from the more traditional and better defined offense of monopolization, which is proscribed by Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2. The essence of the new theory is that “a firm violates § 2 by using its monopoly power in one market to gain an unwarranted competitive advantage in another.” M.A.P. Oil Co., Inc. v. Texaco, Inc., 691 F.2d 1303, 1305-06 (9th Cir.1982). The plaintiffs in the case at bar are thirteen electrical contractors who do business in and around Sacramento, California; they are suing the publicly owned utility that provides electricity to much of the greater Sacramento area. This opinion considers only the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment specifically on a “monopoly leveraging” theory. They claim that the defendant has unlawfully used its alleged monopoly power in the retail electrical energy market to preclude the plaintiffs from obtaining work constructing what they call “electrical distribution systems,” and to compete unfairly for work installing and maintaining street lighting and outdoor (security) lighting systems. It would take very little to establish that the plaintiffs have not, for summary judgment purposes, made out the necessary elements of their monopoly leveraging claims. Nonetheless, it appears worthwhile to explore these claims at some length in order to attempt to narrow the focus of the legal and factual inquiry which they present. As I shall explain, the appellate courts have made that task fairly complicated by announcing what amounts to a new antitrust offense without exploring the practical ramifications of that expansive move. I THE SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD There are repeated suggestions in the cases that the summary judgment device is somehow different when it is invoked in the context of an antitrust action. Thus it has been noted that “summary judgment is disfavored in antitrust cases in which motive and intent are important factors.... ” Aydin Corp. v. Loral Corp., 718 F.2d 897 at 901 (9th Cir. July 12, 1983), citing Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 473, 82 S.Ct. 486, 491, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962). Nonetheless, “its use is not prohibited and may save judicial resources.” Aydin, supra, citing First National Bank v. Cities Service Co., 391 U.S. 253, 288-90, 88 S.Ct. 1575, 1592-93, 20 L.Ed.2d 569 (1968). In short, although the court will entertain such a motion, “[t]he moving party is subject to a ‘particularly rigorous’ burden in antitrust cases.” Aydin, supra at 902, quoting Mutual Fund Investors, Inc. v. Putnam Management Co., 553 F.2d 620, 624 (9th Cir.1977); accord, Javelin Corp. v. Uniroyal, Inc., 546 F.2d 276, 280 (9th Cir.1976), cert. denied 431 U.S. 938, 97 S.Ct. 2651, 53 L.Ed.2d 256 (1977). As with much of the lore of antitrust law, the precise significance of the foregoing is lost on this workaday judge. It is of course important to recognize that questions of intent and motive are not generally susceptible to disposition on summary judgment, whether they arise in the antitrust context or elsewhere. See Soto v. County of Sacramento, 563 F.Supp. 520, 541 (E.D.Cal.1983); see generally 10A C. Wright, A. Miller & M. Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2720 (2d ed. 1983). Moreover, because antitrust actions frequently turn on such inquiries into state of mind, and because they are often quite complex, they are “by their very nature poorly suited to disposition by summary judgment.” Id. § 2732.1 at 313; see also II P. Areeda & D. Turner, Antitrust Law § 316b (1978) [hereinafter cited as II Areeda & Turner], While these observations commend caution in proceeding in this context, they do not seem to establish the existence of a standard for antitrust summary judgment motions that is different in substance from the usual standard applied by courts when they consider motions under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. II Areeda & Turner, supra at 62 (“The suggestion that summary procedures are less appropriate in antitrust cases as such may be put aside, for the Federal Rules make absolutely no distinction between antitrust and other cases.” Id., discussing Poller v. CBS, supra.) Indeed, the same cases which gravely point out the “particular rigors” facing a party who moves for summary judgment in the antitrust context go on to delineate the applicable standard in precisely the same terms generally used to adjudicate motions under Rule 56. See Aydin at 902; Mutual Fund Investors, 553 F.2d at 624-25; Javelin Corp., 546 F.2d at 280. Accordingly, I shall employ that familiar set of tools in disposing of the present motion. Summary judgment is proper only when the materials submitted by the moving party “show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Aydin at 901-902. It is well settled that the moving party has the burden of establishing that this standard is satisfied. Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 159-60, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 1609-10, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970); Program Engineering, Inc. v. Triangle Publications, 634 F.2d 1188, 1192-93 (9th Cir.1980). However, if the moving party is successful in making out a prima facie case, that would entitle that party to a directed verdict if uncontradicted at trial, summary judgment will be granted unless the opposing party “presents] specific facts demonstrating that there is a [triable] factual dispute about a material issue.” Program Engineering, Inc. at 1193; see Aydin at 902. Throughout this process, “all evidence and inferences therefrom are to be construed in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion.” Mutual Fund Investors, 553 F.2d at 624, citing United States v. Diebold, 369 U.S. 654, 655, 82 S.Ct. 993, 994, 8 L.Ed.2d 176 (1962). “Nevertheless, the opponents’ version of the facts must support a viable legal theory which would entitle them, if accepted, to a judgment as a matter of law.” Mutual Fund Investors, 553 F.2d at 624. Given the manner in which this motion was couched (see n. 2, infra), another observation regarding the summary judgment process is particularly in order. As this court has noted elsewhere, “in all summary judgment motions, the court’s task is the discovery of material disputes of fact, not their resolution.” Kouba v. Allstate Ins. Co., 523 F.Supp. 148, 154 (E.D.Cal.1981), rev’d on other grounds, 691 F.2d 873 (9th Cir.1982); see also 1 J. Weinstein & M. Berger, Weinstein’s Evidence ¶ 200[06] (1982) (hereinafter Weinstein & Berger) (“The [summary judgment] device is not intended to resolve issues which are within the traditional province of the trier of fact, but rather to see whether there are such issues.” Weinstein & Berger, at 200-31, quoting James, Civil Procedure ¶ 6.18 (1965)). With these principles in mind, I turn first to an examination of the factual assertions underlying this motion. II FACTUAL BACKGROUND The defendant Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD) is a public entity created pursuant to state law. Its primary business is the retail sale of electrical energy. At the time that the complaint was filed in this action, SMUD’s service area covered some 757 square miles including and adjacent to the City of Sacramento. Like most electric utility companies, SMUD is virtually the exclusive supplier of retail electricity within its service area. Unlike many other utilities, however, SMUD (through its Board of Directors) makes its own rules and sets its own rates and charges. See Cal.Pub.Util.Code § 11885. Thus it can fairly be said that SMUD has absolute control over the price paid for electrical energy in its service area. The plaintiffs allege — and SMUD indignantly denies — that SMUD engages in business activities other than simply the retail sale and distribution of electricity. Specifically, the plaintiffs allege that SMUD constructs and maintains what the plaintiffs term “electrical distribution systems” in the SMUD service area. The plaintiffs also claim that SMUD is unfairly competing with them for work constructing what they call “street and outdoor lighting systems.” SMUD’s activities in these areas form the basis of this action; thus in order to explain what the parties are arguing about it is necessary to describe what is meant by “electrical distribution systems,” “street lighting systems” and “outdoor lighting systems,” and to attempt to tie those descriptions to undisputed facts regarding events in the real world. The retail sale of electricity necessarily contemplates the distribution of that energy to the consumer. It is obvious that, up to a point, the installation and maintenance of facilities and equipment necessary to the delivery of retail electricity to SMUD’s customers are merely part of SMUD’s lawful activities as a provider of electrical energy. The assumption underlying this litigation is that, at some point, the delivery of SMUD’s product turns into a different product (or service) in itself. In other words, the plaintiffs assert that there is some point, between the construction of high-voltage electric transformers and the act of screwing in a light bulb or plugging in a toaster, where SMUD’s delivery of its product ends and a different activity commences. Whether such a point exists, and if so where precisely that point is to be fixed are the essential questions underlying the dispute regarding “electrical distribution systems.” According to the plaintiffs, the critical point at which SMUD’s lawful delivery of its product is transformed into an unlawful encroachment on free enterprise is fixed geographically; it is “the outer property line of the property for which new electrical service is required.” Thus all of the wiring and other equipment connecting the off-property SMUD feed lines to the on-property structure which requires electric service, taken together, compromise the “electrical distribution system,” or EDS. SMUD admits that it carries power through its own facilities, across property lines, and often well past the boundaries described by plaintiffs. Indeed it is undisputed that, in the case of private residences, SMUD installs and maintains power lines and equipment right up to the meter box attached to an outside wall of the house itself. SMUD asserts that it has traditionally performed these services in connection with private residences, dating back to the time when most electricity was provided to private homes via low voltage lines run directly from off-premises SMUD poles to connecting points on the exterior of the houses. SMUD admits, however, that there was a period when it did not run lines all the way to private residential structures. Sometime in the 1960’s, overhead connecting lines run from pole to private structure fell into disfavor, and SMUD began running its service lines underground. In the case of private residences, SMUD ended its underground distribution at a “pedestal” located on the owner’s property, but some distance from the house itself. During that period SMUD permitted — and indeed required — the owner of the individual residence (in fact, generally the developer of the residential subdivision) to provide his or her own connective wiring between the pedestal and the house. This connective work was presumably performed in large measure by private electrical contractors such as the plaintiffs. In 1973, however, SMUD, in its words, “resumed its historic practice of serving to the residential customer’s meter.” Memorandum in Opposition at 231 (filed Feb. 1, 1982). In other words, SMUD’s rules require that only SMUD may install the electrical distribution equipment from the property line to the house meter box. The customer (again, usually the developer) is required to pay SMUD a fee for the work. According to the plaintiffs, the fee charged is less than what it would cost for them to do the work for the customer. In any event, there is far less work than there was prior to 1973 for electrical contractors installing “electrical distribution systems” in the SMUD service area. Much of what the parties argue about is centered on the provision of service to single-family dwellings, as described above. The parties apparently focus their arguments on this phenomenon because it provides a useful paradigm for the larger discussion regarding SMUD’s distribution services, and perhaps because the construction of EDS’s for private residences is the single greatest concern of the plaintiffs. In any event, it'must be noted that the plaintiffs are not merely concerned with SMUD’s distribution of energy (past property lines) to individual houses. Rather, they contest SMUD’s activities in bringing power across the property lines of various customers, including multi-family residences, commercial developments (such as shopping centers), and industrial developments. All of these activities, the plaintiffs claim, constitute unlawful encroachment on what would otherwise be free competition for the construction of necessary distribution facilities. SMUD responds that all of its operations within and without customers’ property lines are consistent with SMUD’s mandate. That mandate, SMUD says, is to bring electrical energy in a form that can be used by the given customer and to a place where it is useful to the customer. In addition to their allegations regarding electrical distribution systems, the plaintiffs complain of SMUD’s activities in the construction and maintenance of “street and outdoor lighting systems.” Although the plaintiffs lump them together in this fashion, it appears that the terms “street lighting systems” and “outdoor lighting systerns” describe two somewhat different things which, for analytical purposes, should be described separately. Street lighting systeins are generally defined in SMUD’s Rates 51, 52 and 53 (1978) as outdoor lighting services supplied by customer-owned or SMUD-owned facilities for streets, highways, bridges, public parks and various kinds of schools. Under Rate 51, the customer builds and maintains the system, and pays SMUD a set rate based on the wattage used per month. Under Rate 52, the customer installs and continues to own the system, but SMUD does the necessary maintenance work on the street lamps and other equipment. Finally, under Rate 53, SMUD constructs, operates and maintains the street lighting system, and retains ownership of it. Both Rate 52 and 53 provide that the customer shall pay SMUD a fixed, monthly charge per lamp, based on the type and wattage of lamp used. The plaintiffs’ allegations with regard to street lighting systems differ from the claims regarding electrical distribution systems in that the plaintiffs do not allege that SMUD has entirely precluded electrical contractors from competing for the desired work by adopting a restrictive regulation. Rather, the plaintiffs point to the fact that developers, public entities, etc., which desire such systems can have them installed by SMUD under Rate 53 at no initial charge— instead, the costs of installation and maintenance are absorbed into SMUD’s rate structure and thus are recovered via monthly charges to all customers participating in the Rate 53 program. Moreover, developers and other such customers who contact SMUD regarding the provision of electricity for street lighting are informed of SMUD’s “package deal” under Rate 53. As will be discussed more fully below, these facts are at the core of the plaintiffs’ charge that SMUD engages in anti-competitive practices in the construction and maintenance of street lighting systems. What the plaintiffs refer to as “outdoor lighting systems” involve a somewhat different set of facts than those discussed in relation to “street lighting systems;” indeed, they are perhaps more accurately described by the plaintiffs in their briefs as a “security light service” provided by SMUD. Pursuant to its Rates 71 through 78 (1978), SMUD places outdoor lights on its (pre-existing) utility poles for residential and commercial customers who wish to have specific areas illuminated for security purposes or other unspecified reasons. Again, SMUD makes no initial charge for installation, and bills the customer a flat monthly rate based on the type and wattage of lamp used. It is undisputed that SMUD refuses to allow the plaintiffs, or indeed anyone other than a SMUD employee, to place lamps on its utility poles. The plaintiffs allege that they are in competition with SMUD in that each of them is “ready, willing and able” to construct electrical distribution systems and street lighting systems, and to provide “security light services.” The plaintiffs are all licensed electrical contractors, doing business in the SMUD service area, and are capable of doing most or all of the work entailed in constructing those various systems, according to their undisputed declarations. The common thread running through the plaintiffs’ allegations concerning electrical distribution systems, street lighting systems, and “outdoor” or “security light services,” is the contention that SMUD has used its alleged monopoly power in the market for the retail sale and distribution of electric energy to thwart competition in other areas. Before examining the merits of the plaintiffs’ claims regarding each of the activities described above, it appears appropriate to discuss the nature and development of the unifying theory upon which the plaintiffs seek to rely. III THE GENESIS AND CONTOURS OF “MONOPOLY LEVERAGING” In attempting to resolve the issues tendered by the instant motion, I sometimes felt as if I had ventured through the looking glass. Accordingly, I shall follow the advice given Alice and begin at the beginning. In this motion, the plaintiff asserts a “monopolization” claim under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, 15 U.S.C. § 2. Unlike Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which broadly prohibits all activities that “unreasonably” restrain interstate or international trade, see Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, 221 U.S. 1, 31 S.Ct. 502, 55 L.Ed. 619 (1911), Section 2 fixes more narrowly on a specific economic problem: monopoly power. In the words of a leading commentator: Focusing on the private monopolization of trade or commerce, Section 2 seeks to promote market competition by preventing large aggregations of economic power from being built unfairly. Its primary goal is to prevent a firm or group of firms from acquiring or maintaining monopoly power through abusive or inequitable practices. II E. Kintner, Federal Antitrust Law § 11.1 at 301 (1980) (hereinafter II Kintner). As I shall explain, the claim pressed by plaintiffs in the present motion does not relate in any direct sense to this “primary goal” of Section 2. The monopoly leveraging theory, as articulated in Berkey Photo and its progeny does not attack either the acquisition or the maintenance of monopoly power in a given market; rather it seeks to curb the abuse of otherwise lawful monopoly power in markets other than the one in which the power is held. While this aim is not inconsistent with the purposes of the Sherman Act, it does present analytical problems which are quite different from those usually encountered in Section 2 monopolization claims. Monopoly power is classically defined as “the power to control prices or exclude competition” in a relevant market. United States v. DuPont & Co., 351 U.S. 377, 391, 76 S.Ct. 994, 1005, 100 L.Ed. 1264 (1956). In order to restrict the development of monopoly power, Congress created three “separate and distinct offenses” under Section 2: monopolization, attempt to monopolize, and combination or conspiracy to monopolize. II Kintner, supra at 301. The framers of the Sherman Act recognized, however, that mere possession of monopoly power may be altogether “innocent” and, indeed, may be the result of healthy and beneficial economic activity. See DuPont, 351 U.S. at 390-91, 76 S.Ct. at 1004-05; I E. Kintner, Federal Antitrust Law § 4.14 (1980) (hereinafter I Kintner). Thus in fleshing out the substantive Section 2 offenses, the courts have required a showing of something more than that the alleged violator possesses monopoly power. In the context of a monopolization claim — purportedly what is at issue here— the Supreme Court has specified that a monopoly is not unlawful unless the actor “has illegally acquired it, or, on the other hand, ... unless he has ‘maintained his strategic position, or sought to expand his monopoly, or expanded it by means of those restraints of trade which are cognizable under section one.’ ” Levi, A Two Level Anti-Monopoly Law, 47 Nw.U.L.Rev. 567, 580-81 (1952), quoting United States v. Griffith, 334 U.S. 100,106, 68 S.Ct. 941, 945, 92 L.Ed. 1236 (1948). The elements of a monopolization claim are therefore generally stated as (1) possession of monopoly power in the relevant market; (2) willful acquisition or maintenance of that power; and (3) causal antitrust injury. E.g., Forro Precision, Inc. v. IBM Corp., 673 F.2d 1045, 1058 (9th Cir.1982). In the claim being considered here, however, the plaintiffs do not assert that SMUD holds a monopoly in the “markets” which would normally be considered “relevant” for purposes of analyzing a monopolization claim, i.e., the economic areas in which the plaintiffs seek to compete with SMUD. Nor do they dispute the legitimacy of SMUD’s alleged monopoly over the retail sale of electrical energy, for the plaintiffs are not contending, in any ordinary sense, that SMUD acquired or maintained that alleged monopoly unlawfully. In short, the instant motion does not tender a claim of “monopolization of a relevant market,” as that offense has traditionally been understood. It does not follow, however, that the plaintiffs have failed to state a “monopolization” claim under Section 2. As I have noted, the courts have recognized that a firm which has used monopoly power, lawfully acquired in one market, to “gain an unwarranted competitive advantage” in another market, has committed the offense of monopolization even though it has sought neither to maintain nor expand its monopoly in the first (or “monopoly”) market, nor to acquire monopoly power in the disputed markets. M.A.P. Oil Co., 691 F.2d at 1305-06; Berkey Photo, 603 F.2d at 275. This somewhat anomalous result may be traced, in some measure, to the felt need of the courts to police certain activities of monopolists, although those activities may not otherwise constitute antitrust violations. In the instant case, for example, the plaintiffs’ allegations regarding electrical distribution systems resemble various practices which would be proscribed by Section 1 of the Sherman Act — most notably “tying arrangements.” In that claim, however, the plaintiffs are concerned only with the alleged unilateral conduct of SMUD; they do not establish the concerted activity required for a violation of Section 1. See Berkey Photo, 603 F.2d at 272; II Kintner, supra § 11.5. Similarly, the plaintiffs’ claims bear some of the features of an attempted monopolization claim under Section 2. While such a claim is asserted elsewhere in the complaint, the plaintiffs do not presently contend that SMUD acted with the specific intent to monopolize, which is the sine qua non of an attempt action. See Forro Precision, Inc., 673 F.2d at 1059. In sum, federal antitrust law, at least in theory, failed to address certain anticompetitive conduct by monopolists that was undertaken unilaterally and without the purpose of acquiring or maintaining monopoly power either in the monopoly market or the second, disputed market. This theoretical gap led at least one commentator (prior to the Berkey Photo decision) to suggest that the courts recognize a new and “unique” Section 2 offense prohibiting abuses of monopoly power. See Hawk, Attempts to Monopolize — Specific Intent As Antitrust’s Ghost in the Machine, Cornell L.Rev. 1121, 1156-59 (1973). The court’s, however, rather than treating the problem as unaddressed by the statutes seemed to suggest that the need was already filled by existing antitrust law. The most important example is probably the Supreme Court’s statement that “the use of monopoly power, however lawfully acquired, to foreclose competition, to gain a competitive advantage, or to destroy a competitor, is unlawful.” United States v. Griffith, 334 U.S. at 107, 68 S.Ct. at 945; see also, e.g., Otter Tail Power Co. v. United States, 410 U.S. 366, 377, 93 S.Ct. 1022, 1029, 35 L.Ed.2d 359 (1973), reh’g denied, 411 U.S. 910, 93 S.Ct. 1523, 36 L.Ed.2d 201 (1973); Sargent-Welch Scientific Co. v. Ventron Corp., 567 F.2d 701, 712 n. 2 (7th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 822, 99 S.Ct. 87, 58 L.Ed.2d 113 (1978). Despite the ringing words of the Griffith opinion, the precise significance of that case is shrouded in mystery. The facts of Griffith have been described, and the opinion dissected, in great detail by the commentators. See, e.g., II Kintner, supra § 12.15. As Kintner fairly points out, “[t]he Supreme Court’s opinion in United States v. Griffith is subject to at least four differing interpretations.” Id. 410 U.S. at 389, 93 S.Ct. at 1035. Among those interpretations is that the Court was condemning “the mere use of monopoly power to obtain competitive advantages in another market as a separate offense under section 2 of the Sherman Act.” id. A better reading of Griffith, however, is probably that it concerned an attempt by a party with monopoly power in one market to monopolize a second market; under this analysis the significance of the monopolists’ “abuse” of its power was that it proved the specific intent to monopolize which is an essential element of an attempt claim. In any event, the latter explanation of Griffith was apparently the one adopted by the author of that opinion, Justice Douglas, in a subsequent opinion written for the Court. See Otter Tail Power Co., 410 U.S. at 377, 93 S.Ct. at 1029; see also Hawk, supra at 1128. In summary, prior to the Berkey Photo decision, there was discussion both in ease and commentary regarding the abuse of monopoly power, but it was unclear what the significance of such abuse was in the context of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. See Levi, supra at 571; Hawk, supra at 1156-57. As I have noted, Otter Tail apparently stands for the proposition that such abuses supply the necessary “specific intent” element where the charge is an unlawful attempt to monopolize a second market. Other cases have held that the abuse of monopoly power in a second market to maintain or preserve that power in the first, or monopoly market, established the “willful maintenance” element of a claim that the defendant had committed the offense of monopolization with regard to the first market. E.g., Greyhound Computer Corp. v. IBM Corp., 559 F.2d 488, 503 (9th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1040, 98 S.Ct. 782, 54 L.Ed.2d 790 (1978). Still other cases establish that when a monopolist actually attains monopoly power in the second market through abuse of a monopoly in the first market, that abuse is sufficient to show that the second monopoly was acquired “willfully.” Eg., Mid-Texas Communications Systems, Inc. v. American Tel. & Tel. Co., 615 F.2d 1372, 1385-86 (5th Cir.), reh. denied, 618 F.2d 1389 (5th Cir.), cert. denied sub nom, Woodlands Telecommunications Corp. v. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co., 449 U.S. 912, 101 S.Ct. 286, 66 L.Ed.2d 140 (1980). None of these cases really aid the plaintiffs in the context of this motion, however, for plaintiffs do not presently contend that SMUD is attempting to monopolize any of the disputed areas of competition within the meaning of Section 2; nor do they assert (for purposes of this motion) that SMUD has attained a monopoly in any of those “markets,” nor that SMUD’s activities vis-a-vis electrical distribution systems, street lighting, or outdoor lighting systems in any sense “preserved” SMUD’s alleged monopoly of the retail sale of power. In sum, the theory relied upon by the plaintiffs in this motion was not clearly articulated until Judge Kaufman announced the Second Circuit’s opinion in Berkey Photo, 603 F.2d 263. That lawsuit was brought by Berkey Photo, Inc. (“Berkey”), a “prominent participant” in the amateur photographic industry against the Eastman Kodak Company (“Kodak”), “the preeminent firm” in that industry. Id. at 267. At trial, Berkey established that Kodak held monopoly power in the markets for amateur conventional still cameras, film (other than “instant” film) used by amateur photographers, and “color paper — that is, paper specially treated so that images from color film may be printed on it.... ” Id. at 267-73. The jury found, moreover, that Kodak used this power to gain an advantage in markets for photofinishing services and equipment, in which Kodak held no monopoly. On the basis of this conduct and resultant injury to the plaintiff, the jury awarded very substantial damages to Berkey. For our purposes, the vital question among those raised on appeal in Berkey Photo was “whether a firm violates § 2 by using its monopoly power in one market to gain a competitive advantage in another, albeit without an attempt to monopolize the second market.” 603 F.2d at 275. The Second Circuit held, “as did the lower court, that it does.” Id. In an elegantly written opinion, Judge Kaufman traced the development of anti-monopoly jurisprudence under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, beginning with the passage of the statute and the consequent creation by Congress of “ ‘a new jurisdiction [in the federal courts] to apply a “common law” against monopolizing.’ ” Id. at 272, quoting 3 P. Areeda & D. Turner, Antitrust Law 40 (1978). After defining monopoly power in conventional antitrust terms, and explaining why such power is “inherently evil,” Id. at 272-73, Judge Kaufman went on to explain that, nonetheless, “§ 2 does not prohibit monopoly simpliciter — or, as the Supreme Court phrased it in the early landmark case of Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey ..., ‘monopoly in the concrete.’ ” Id. at 273, quoting 221 U.S. 1, 62, 31 S.Ct. 502, 516, 55 L.Ed. 619 (1911). Rather, he noted that monopoly power is not unlawful unless it is acquired or maintained “willfully” — with the intent to engage in anti-competitive conduct. Id. at 273-75. As the fulcrum upon which this Section 2 see-saw is balanced, Judge Kaufman identified the following rule: “[A] monopolist is tolerated but not cherished. Thus ... the mere existence of monopoly power ‘whether lawfully or unlawfully acquired,’ is in itself violative of § 2, ‘provided it is coupled with the purpose or intent to exercise that power.’ ” Berkey Photo, 603 F.2d at 274, quoting Griffith, 334 U.S. at 107, 68 S.Ct. at 945. To the extent, therefore, that a monopolist, which has acquired its power lawfully, uses the advantages that derive from its size and integration to compete in its own market or elsewhere it does not offend the Sherman Act. Berkey Photo, 603 F.2d at 274. That “lawful” monopolist, however, violates the law when it uses its power “to beget monopoly.” Id. at 275, quoting Griffith, 334 U.S. at 108, 68 S.Ct. at 946. More importantly, by striking the balance in the place that he did, Judge Kaufman was led to the “inexorable interpretation of the antitrust laws” that the use of monopoly power to gain competitive advantage offends Section 2, regardless of whether that use of power is in any sense directed towards the acquisition or preservation of monopoly. Id. at 275. The Berkey Photo opinion, by virtue of its adoption in Mapp, seems to have settled the question in this circuit of whether a “pure” monopoly leveraging theory exists; moreover, the opinion provides some description of the doctrinal basis of that theory. In a sense, however, the opinion raised more questions than it answered. First of all, Berkey Photo did not directly address the issue of whether “monopoly leveraging” merely provides a necessary element for a finding of liability under one of the three specified Section 2 offenses, or whether that doctrine describes a new and separate substantive offense under the Act. Although the opinion describes the offense of monopolization (and the monopolization cases) at some length, it appears that the purpose of that discussion is only to uncover the policies underlying Section 2, and to trace the manner in which those policies have been effectuated by the courts. The court evinces from its discussion a general rule regarding the legal limitations on monopoly power, and announces that that rule is violated any time monopoly power is used to gain a competitive advantage. This analytical process clearly speaks to the purpose of the statute itself rather than the limits and possibilities of any pre-existing statutory offense, and thus seems to be describing a new and different way of proceeding under the Act — that is, a new Section 2 offense. To the extent that there is any question about the courts’ power to create such an offense (see n. 14, supra), the Second Circuit’s analysis simply does not address the question. The Ninth Circuit may, however, be read as having the view that Berkey Photo merely describes a species of monopolization claim under Section 2. See M.A.P. Oil Co. v. Texaco, Inc., 691 F.2d at 1305-06. This explanation, while avoiding the questions raised in nn. 14 & 15, itself raises further problems. First, of course, is the urgent matter of what the defendant is charged with doing. That question becomes more difficult the more one considers the question, for Berkey, like Griffith before it, is subject to multiple interpretations. Keeping in mind, however, that Berkey apparently does not require actual monopolization or attempted monopolization of the contested market, the only readily apparent answer is that the defendant’s conduct in the “second” market raises an inference sufficient to support the conclusion that the firm is “willfully” maintaining its monopoly power in the “first” (or “monopoly”) market. If this reading is correct in the instant case, we are to understand that if SMUD is indeed using its power as a lever outside of the market for retail electrical energy, that fact “proves” that SMUD is “willfully maintaining” its power within that market; SMUD’s conduct vis-a-vis, e.g., electrical distribution systems is relevant, under this analysis, only insofar as it evidences SMUD’s intent to control retail electricity sales. Given that no one has suggested that SMUD has acted “willfully” to acquire or maintain the monopoly granted it by both state law and “natural” economic conditions, this analysis is an elaborate fiction at best. Certainly it is a departure from “[t]he basic formula for illegal monopolization [i.e.] ‘exclusionary’ behavior that achieves, maintains, or increases monopoly power in a given market.” P. Areeda, Antitrust Law ¶ 729.4 at 178 (1982 Supplement) (emphasis added). This theoretical gap leads back to the second, more practical, set of problems that arise in the wake of the Berkey Photo decision: What must the plaintiffs prove in order to make out their claim? Obviously the relatively straightforward elements of a conventional monopolization claim do not speak to the situation where a firm is operating in two markets and is doing so without the purpose of obtaining or preserving monopoly power in either market. (Again, it must be recalled that, at least for this motion, the plaintiffs assert only that SMUD has a lawful monopoly in retail electrie power which it is using to gain “an unwarranted competitive advantage” in other markets). Berkey Photo seems to interpose “use of monopoly power to gain competitive advantage” as a new element, in the place of “willful acquisition or maintenance of monopoly power.” The slipperiness of the distinction between “use of monopoly power”, however, and lawful use of the advantages brought by size and integration has led to criticism of that decision. Moreover, it is not entirely clear from the Berkey Photo opinion whether it condemns the use of monopoly power per se, or whether that power may legitimately be used in some contexts — although it appears that the latter answer is the one intended. Finally, the opinion is silent as to the extent to which the second (or “leveraged”) market must be defined, if at all. In this last regard, fortunately, recent Ninth Circuit authority is of some help. First, it appears relatively clear that the activity complained of must entail an abuse of the monopoly power itself, as opposed to the mere use of competitive advantages which the defendant enjoys for some reason distinct from its power to set prices or exclude competition from the first market. See Foremost Pro Color, Inc. v. Eastman Kodak Co., 703 F.2d 534, 545-46 (9th Cir.1983). (It of course remains this court’s task to give life to that distinction). Second, the challenged use of monopoly power must involve something more than the seeking of competitive advantage in another market; the advantage sought must be “unwarranted.” M.A.P. Oil, 691 F.2d at 1305-06. While it is unclear as to whether the Ninth Circuit meant the word “unwarranted” to be a new term of art in antitrust law, its significance in this context is not particularly obscure. It should be remembered that the Ninth Circuit was discussing what it viewed as a Section 2 “monopolization” claim, and thus was specifically addressing the element of “willful acquisition or maintenance.” Id. The Ninth Circuit has repeatedly held that “in determining whether a defendant’s conduct constitutes the willful acquisition or maintenance of monopoly power required for the offense of monopolization, ‘the test is whether the defendant’s acts, otherwise lawful, were unreasonably restrictive of competition.’ ” Transamerica Computer Co. v. IBM Corp., 698 F.2d 1377, 1382 n. 2 (9th Cir.1983), quoting California Computer Products, Inc. v. IBM, 613 F.2d 727, 735-36 (9th Cir.1979). The “reasonableness” standard, in turn, has taken on meaning through its constant use as a tool of antitrust jurisprudence, particularly in the context of litigation under Section 1 of the Sherman Act. See generally L. Sullivan, Handbook of the Law of Antitrust 171-182 (1977). In this circuit the “reasonableness” test in cases under Section 2 is the same standard as that traditionally invoked in Section 1 litigation. Transamerica Computer Co., 698 F.2d at 1382-83 n. 2. The application of this standard to the facts of the instant case will be discussed, infra, in relation to the specific claims of the plaintiffs. Finally, the M.A.P. Oil case makes it abundantly clear that in order to prevail the plaintiffs must define both the market in which monopoly power is allegedly held, and the separate markets in which the leveraging of that power has allegedly taken place. 691 F.2d at 1305-08. This requirement serves at least two purposes in the context of a monopoly leveraging claim. Initially, there can be no unlawful leveraging unless the defendant is seeking a competitive advantage in the provision of goods or services that is analytically distinct from the supply of those goods and services over which the defendant has a lawful monopoly. Id. Furthermore, the requisite showing of “unreasonableness” necessarily imports an understanding of the perimeters of the leveraged markets, for the fundamental inquiry in that regard is whether the defendant’s practices have a significant effect on competition in each of those markets. This inquiry is perforce directed to the effect on competition in each market as a whole; “[t]o amount to an unreasonable restraint of trade the anticompetitive conduct must have an effect greater than its effect upon the plaintiff[s’] business.” Gough v. Rossmoor Corp., 585 F.2d 381, 386 (9th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 936, 99 S.Ct. 1280, 59 L.Ed.2d 494 (1979); see also Aydin Corp. v. Loral Corp., 718 F.2d 897 at 902 (9th Cir. July 12, 1983). All of this follows from the axiom that the “antitrust laws ... were enacted for the protection of competition, not competitors .... ” Gough, 585 F.2d at 386, citing Brunswick Corp. v. Pueblo Bowl-O-Mat, 429 U.S. 477, 488, 97 S.Ct. 690, 697, 50 L.Ed.2d 701 (1977). In summary, the courts of appeal have not precisely defined the elements of a “monopoly leveraging” claim, and the apparent doctrinal inconsistencies in the various opinions, regarding the nature of that claim, have made it difficult for this court to spell out those elements with any great confidence. Nonetheless, through cross-reference and interpolation, it is possible to set forth the following as the structure of what the plaintiffs must prove: First, that SMUD possesses monopoly power in a “relevant market”; second, that the activities of which the plaintiffs complain occurred in a defined market (or markets), distinct from the first (or monopoly) market; third, that those activities involved a use of SMUD’s monopoly power, rather than mere employment of other advantages that SMUD enjoys by virtue of size, integration, etc.; fourth, that SMUD sought or gained an “unwarranted competitive advantage” in the “leveraged” market or markets (i.e. that SMUD’s conduct amounted to an “unreasonable restraint of competition”); lastly, that the challenged conduct caused injury to the plaintiffs of the sort cognizable under the antitrust laws. Having identified the essential elements, the next task is to determine whether the plaintiffs have satisfied those elements in regard to each of their pending claims. The threshold question — whether SMUD in fact possesses monopoly power — is common to all of the claims; I shall thus begin with that as a discrete inquiry. IV SMUD’S MONOPOLY POWER In a brief submitted to the court, SMUD admits that it “has a legal monopoly in the sale of electricity” which includes “electrical energy generation, transmission and distribution.” Supplemental Memorandum in Opposition at 1, 3 (June 15, 1982). Yet in the same brief, and throughout its moving papers, SMUD denies that it holds an “economic monopoly” of the sort regulated by the antitrust laws. E.g., id. at 2. There is no apparent content to this distinction except that it neatly describes SMUD’s litigation posture. SMUD defines a “monopoly at law” as “rights de jure to perform a service.” Id. at 2. Monopoly in any sense —legal, economic or other — imports something more, however. The term necessarily implies that the described “rights” are in some sense enjoyed free from the vicissitudes of competition. Moreover, monopoly, within this ordinary understanding of the term, is precisely what Congress sought to regulate when it passed the Sherman Act. See III P. Areeda & D. Turner, Antitrust Law ¶ 617 (1978). Although more precision may be needed for determining whether a firm has violated the law in any specific manner, the Griffith case illustrates that a leveraging analysis may begin with the determination that the defendant “has a monopoly in the popular sense.” 334 U.S. at 106, 68 S.Ct. at 945. As I shall explain, the more complicated analytical process upon which SMUD insists really does nothing to alter the unremarkable “popular” conclusion that SMUD indeed has a monopoly which is a monopoly which is a monopoly- Once again, “[m]onopoly power is the power to control prices or exclude competition.” Betaseed, Inc. v. U. & I. Inc., 681 F.2d 1203, 1231 (9th Cir.1982), citing, inter alia, United States v. E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co., 351 U.S. 377, 391, 76 S.Ct. 994, 1005, 100 L.Ed. 1264 (1956). This of course means something more than that the defendant, like most firms, decides what price it will charge the public; it involves the ability to set prices without fear of competition. “A firm cannot impose monopoly prices if buyers are free to purchase a competitor’s goods.” General Business Systems v. No. Amer. Philips Corp., 699 F.2d 965, 972 (9th Cir.1983). Thus in order to determine whether a firm possesses monopoly power, courts generally begin by ascertaining the relevant market, i.e. “the arena within which the strength of competitive forces is measured.” II Kintner, Federal Antitrust Law § 12.2 at 325, quoting P. Areeda, Antitrust Analysis 133 (2d ed.1974). In ascertaining the relevant market, it is vital to bear in mind the point of the exercise: “Market definition is not a jurisdictional prerequisite, or an issue having its own significance under the statute; it is merely an aid for determining whether power exists.” L. Sullivan, Handbook of the Law of Antitrust 41 (1977). “Markets are primarily defined by specification of the produces) and geographic area(s) included within them.” II Kintner, Federal Antitrust Law § 12.2 at 325; see, e.g., General Business Systems, 699 F.2d at 972. put another way, “the proponent of [the monopoly leveraging] theory must identify the relevant product and geographic markets as a threshold requirement.” M.A.P. Oil, 691 F.2d at 1306. The first question, then, is whether the plaintiffs have identified the appropriate product market within which to measure SMUD’s economic power. “In defining the relevant product market, it must be determined which products have a sufficient competitive impact on the product of the defendant to be considered collectively in deciding whether the defendant possesses monopoly power.” II Kintner, Federal Antitrust Law § 12.3 at 325-26. “Thus, all products that are ‘reasonably interchangeable,’ and so can be said to compete for the buyers’ dollars, are included in the [product] market definition.” General Business Systems, 699 F.2d at 972, quoting United States v. E.I. duPont & Co., 351 U.S. at 395, 76 S.Ct. at 1007. “In sum, defining a relevant product market is a process of describing those groups of producers which, because of the similarity of their products, have the ability — actual or potential — to take significant amounts of business away from each other.” Smith-Kline Corp. v. Eli Lilly & Co., 575 F.2d 1056, 1063 (3d Cir.1978), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 838, 99 S.Ct. 123, 58 L.Ed.2d 134 (1978), quoted in Kaplan v. Burroughs Corp., 611 F.2d 286, 292 (9th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 447 U.S. 924, 100 S.Ct. 3016, 65 L.Ed.2d 1116 (1980) . Not surprisingly, the plaintiffs seek to define the product market as narrowly as possible; in short, they would limit it to the basic “product” which SMUD sells. Thus the plaintiffs assert that the “appropriate product” for purposes of this inquiry is “electric energy,” and, more specifically, that SMUD’s monopoly encompasses the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to the extent that those activities are part of the “sale of the commodity electric energy.” Their basic thesis is that there is no reasonable substitute for electricity. This is scarcely a radical notion; indeed, plaintiffs cite this court to other cases in which the same basic issue was either summarily resolved by the trial court or conceded outright by the defendant electric utility company. See City of Mishawaka v. American Electric Power Co., 465 F.Supp. 1320, 1325 (N.D.Ind.1979), aff’d in part, rev'd in part on other grounds, 616 F.2d 976 (7th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1096, 101 S.Ct. 892, 66 L.Ed.2d 824; reh’g denied, 450 U.S. 960, 101 S.Ct. 1421, 67 L.Ed.2d 385 (1981) ; United States v. Otter Tail Power Co., 331 F.Supp. 54, 58 (D.Minn.1971), aff’d in part, vacated in part on other grounds, 410 U.S. 366, 93 S.Ct. 1022, 35 L.Ed.2d 359, reh’g denied, 411 U.S. 910, 93 S.Ct. 1523, 36 L.Ed.2d 201 (1973), aff’d, 417 U.S. 901, 94 S.Ct. 2594, 41 L.Ed.2d 207 (1974). What other courts have done in other cases gives little aid to the plaintiffs in this case, however, for market definition is a factual inquiry. E.g., Twin City Sportservice v. Charles O. Finley & Co., 676 F.2d 1291,1299 (9th Cir.1982), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 103 S.Ct. 364, 74 L.Ed.2d 400 (1982). Again, the plaintiffs bear the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue as to the material facts of this case. The unhappy reality is that the plaintiffs have presented very little evidence to support their assertions regarding the product market. Their evidentiary showing consists in large part of passages culled from various SMUD annual reports that demonstrate the widespread and varied use of electricity in several sectors of the economy, generally in the context of discussions regarding energy saving techniques employed by SMUD’s customers. Nowhere in the tendered material, however, does the defendant admit that electricity is irreplaceable. To demonstrate this essential fact, the plaintiffs rely almost entirely on their request that the court take judicial notice that “there is no substitute for electric energy.” Unfortunately, despite the reams of written argument submitted to the court, the parties have given virtually no attention to the legal question of whether it is proper for the court to use the evidentiary device of judicial notice in the manner proposed by the plaintiffs. Federal Rule of Evidence 201 provides that a trial court may take judicial notice of an “adjudicative fact,” provided that the “judicially noticed fact [is] not subject to reasonable dispute in that it is ... generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the court.” Id. “[A]djudicative facts are those to which the law is applied in the process of adjudication. They are the facts that normally go to the jury in a jury ease.” K. Davis, 2 Administrative Law Treatise 353, quoted in Fed.R.Evid. 201 advisory committee note. There is no doubt that the disputed matter in this case — the “substitutability” of electric energy — is such “an adjudicative fact.” Moreover, “[¡judicial notice may be taken at any stage of the proceedings.” Fed.R.Evid. 201(f). Thus the device may appropriately be used in the context of a motion for summary judgment. 1 Weinstein’s Evidence ¶ 200[06]. The real issue is whether the asserted fact that “there is no substitute for electric energy” is “not subject to reasonable dispute.” At first glance this seems a dubious proposition. Put in somewhat more sophisticated terms, “substitutability” is an inquiry into the extent to which there are “cross-elasticities of demand” in the consumption of various products. Times-Picayune Publishing Co. v. United States, 345 U.S. 594, 612 n. 31, 73 S.Ct. 872, 882 n. 31, 97 L.Ed. 1277 (1953); see United States v. E.I. duPont & Co., 351 U.S. 377, 76 S.Ct. 994, 100 L.Ed. 1264. As the defendant fairly observes, such a determination generally requires a detailed examination of “market data, figures or other relevant material adequately describing the nature, cost, usage or other features of competing products.” Morton Buildings of Nebraska, Inc. v. Morton Buildings, Inc., 531 F.2d 910, 919 (8th Cir.1976). At this juncture it is important to reiterate that the analytical tools applied by the courts in this area are not ends in themselves; thus the fact that complex economic situations require the court to employ painstaking methods does not mean that antitrust law mandates such an elaborate factfinding procedure in every case. It appears to this court that in regard to the specific issue of the relevant market within which SMUD’s power is to be measured, this is a relatively straightforward ease indeed. Assuredly, the notion of “reasonable interchangeability” of products is sufficiently subtle that the court cannot merely coat that determination with judicial notice and swallow it whole. Doing so would create the substantial risk that the court was relying on suppressed, and quite possibly erroneous assumptions about how things are in the real world. See 1 Weinstein’s Evidence ¶200[06] at 200-31. There are, however, a number of facts that the court can know to be “not subject to reasonable dispute,” which, taken together, provide adequate support for the ultimate factual conclusion urged by the plaintiffs. It is beyond reasonable dispute that everyday life here in SMUD’s service area involves reliance on a host of sophisticated devices, ranging from the electronic machinery used to prepare this opinion to the ubiquitous television set. For the most part, these modern instruments obviously require some external source of energy in order to function, and the vast majority of them depend on electricity to supply that energy. The court is unaware of any electronically powered device in common usage that could, without significant alteration, be run on some other form of energy. Moreover, it is a matter of daily experience that virtually all buildings, houses and other structures — at least within this jurisdiction — are equipped with convenient outlets for electric energy to which these devices may be connected. At present, no other form of generated energy is available for use in this casual and convenient manner. In short, there is no alternative to which consumers could readily turn should they desire to live their lives as they presently do, but without electricity. These facts, derived from common daily life and not susceptible to genuine dispute, are together sufficient for a trier of fact to conclude, in the absence of other evidence, that there is no other product which is reasonably interchangeable with electric energy. As such they are sufficient to satisfy the initial burden placed on the plaintiffs in regard to this issue. See SEC v. Murphy, 626 F.2d 633, 640 (9th Cir.1980). Accordingly, the burden shifts to SMUD to “come forward with specific facts showing that there remains a genuine factual issue for trial.” Id. SMUD’s response, essentially, is that to confine the product definition to electric energy is to define the market too narrowly. SMUD asserts that there are other forms of energy and “energy conservation products” which could conceivably be used by consumers to substitute, in some measure, for electricity. Thus the defendant submits evidence showing that most of their customers have “actual or potential access to natural gas ... or propane or butane.” Memorandum in Opposition at 51. SMUD also has provided the court with an affidavit executed by Winston Ashiwaza, a professional conservationist in SMUD’s employ. Mr. Ashiwaza lists 29 sorts of “commercial and industrial appliances and equipment” and 9 sorts of “residential appliances and equipment” “which could operate on other energy sources than electric.” The lists are composed mostly, though not exclusively, of heating or refrigeration devices, and the affiant indicates which of those things are “readily available locally” in a design not dependent on electricity. The defendant’s argument misses the point. The applicable test is whether other products are “reasonably interchangeable” with electricity, not whether consumers could conceivably turn to them as a partial substitute for that form of energy. As the Supreme Court has explained: For every product, substitutes exist. But a relevant market cannot meaningfully encompass that infinite range. The circle must be drawn narrowly to exclude any other product to which, within reasonable variations in price, only a limited number of buyers will turn; in technical terms, products whose “cross-elasticities of demand” are small. Times-Picayune Publishing, 345 U.S. at 612, n. 31, 73 S.Ct. at 882, n. 31 (emphasis added). Or again, in a passage quoted in SMUD’s opposition brief: In the case of a product [the relevant market] may be of such a character that substitute products must also be considered, as the customer may turn to them if there is a slight increase in the price of the main product. That is the teaching of the du Pont case [citation], viz., that commodities reasonably interchangeable make up that “part” of trade or commerce which § 2 protects against monopoly power. United States v. Grinnell Corp., 384 U.S. 563, 571, 86 S.Ct. 1698, 1704, 16 L.Ed.2d 778 (1966). SMUD has come forward with no evidence from which it could reasonably be inferred that a “reasonable variation” or a “slight increase” in the price of electricity has led or would lead consumers to resort to other forms of energy to fill the myriad needs that are presently filled by electricity. Frankly, it seems incredible to suggest thát anything short of a truly drastic rise in the retail cost of electricity would cause consumers to scrap the electrically powered appliances that they currently own in favor of purchasing new ones powered by some other source, to convert existing equipment, or to forego entirely or in any large measure the use of electricity. This point is underscored by the fact that any large-scale switch to alternative forms of energy would perforce require structural changes in virtually every room of every building in daily use. In short, the only reasonable conclusion to be drawn from the evidence now before the court is that there is no other product which is “reasonably interchangeable” with electrical energy; thus that product provides the appropriate point of reference for determining the “relevant market” within which to test SMUD’s economic power. The question of which geographic area is appropriate for this purpose is even more readily resolved. Once again, it is important to focus on the purpose of the inquiry: To ascertain the area in which SMUD effectively competes. In the words of the Supreme Court: It is clear, of course, that the “line of commerce” affected need not be nationwide, at least where the purchasers cannot, as a practical matter, turn to suppliers outside their own area.... Since it is the preservation of competition which is at stake, the significant proportion of coverage is that within the area of effective competition. Standard Oil Co. v. United States, 337 U.S. 293, 299-300 n. 5, 69 S.Ct. 1051, 1055 n. 5, 93 L.Ed. 1371 (1949). As Professor Sullivan points out, Geographic market definitions are made for the same purpose as product market definitions. If sellers of a product within a given geographic area can increase price or cut production without a prompt flow of supply into the area from outside of it, those sellers are operating in a separate market from sellers in other areas. L. Sullivan, Handbook of the Law of Antitrust 67 (1977). The undisputed evidence in the instant case is that SMUD is, for all intents and purposes, the sole seller of electricity within its service area. Should SMUD raise its prices to a level which consumers find uncomfortable, there is simply no other provider of the product that could readily come into that area and offer cheaper electricity to the public. Again, SMUD’s own arguments illustrate this fact. Its chief assertion in this regard is that if consumers who would otherwise be in SMUD’s service area find SMUD’s prices too high, they could choose to locate elsewhere. In other words, if SMUD customers, actual or potential, don’t like the way that the defendant operates its business or the prices it charges, they can move. This hardly describes a group of consumers who enjoy the benefits of effective competition in the marketplace. The fact is that in the area in which SMUD operates, it is effectively free of competition for the sale of electricity. There is simply no more sensible geographic area to use in defining the market in which to measure SMUD’s powér, for there is no other market in which SMUD operates, or in which other firms can pose a realistic threat to SMUD. In summary, the relevant market for determining the scope of SMUD’s economic power is the one suggested by the plaintiffs: The sale of electrical energy within the SMUD service area.