Overview of the Competitive Electricity Industry

Abstract

After the deregulation of the utilities industry, a number of new market participants have appeared in place of the old vertically integrated utilities. In this section five categories of market participants are introduced, covering the most crucial functions related to wholesale electricity markets: generation companies, load serving entities, power marketers, exchanges and market makers, and independent system operators. These categories are not mutually exclusive. Large generation companies often serve as load serving entities, and may also fill power marketing functions. Independent system operators and power exchanges, on the other hand, tend not to have other interests or investments in the market, since this would lead to conflicts of interest.