Making Competition Work in Electricity Hardcover - 2002

First line

This was to have been a book about the electric industry in the United States.

From the jacket flap

The electricity industry has become one of the most complex industries around, for reasons ranging from technology to politics. The ultimate goal is to create an efficient and reliable market both for consumers and for the industry. The question is: how to go about doing this? In Making Competition Work in Electricity, power expert Sally Hunt recommends solutions to this unique problem.

Making Competition Work in Electricity is divided into two comprehensive parts. With a focus on the "standard prescription" that has been established over the past decade-as competition has been introduced into many foreign countries and areas of the United States-Part One of this valuable resource sets out and explains what needs to be accomplished for competition to work in any country. You'll come to understand:

• The functions and traditional organization of the electricity industry
• The key technical factors that make it different from other industries
• The essential concepts of the electricity market and marketplaces
• What is needed for a competitive electricity market to thrive and mature
• Various types of trading arrangements-wheeling, integrated, decentralized
• The need for demand response in both wholesale and retail markets
• The need for restructuring of companies to enhance competition
• Why retail access should be the last step, not the first, to stimulate competition

Part Two of Making Competition Work in Electricity focuses on the United States and what needs to be done to apply the "standard prescription" to the complicated setup that currently exists. A full description of the structural and legislative changes since 1992, the state initiatives on retail access, and the new players will give you the most comprehensive overview to date of the electricity industry within the United States, why it is at an impasse, and what has to be done to resolve the problem.

Filled with expert advice and practical solutions, Making Competition Work in Electricity lays out a feasible plan for a restructured electricity industry and explores how to go about achieving this goal. Even with a specific focus on the electricity industry of the United States, this unique guide provides sensible solutions to a dilemma faced throughout the world.