Electricity Market Reform: An International Perspective

Since the late 1980s, policy makers and regulators in a number of countries have liberalized, restructured or “deregulated” their electric power sector, typically by introducing competition at the generation and retail level. These experiments have resulted in vastly different outcomes - some highly encouraging, others utterly disastrous. However, many countries continue along the same path for a variety of reasons.

Electricity Market Reform examines the most important competitive electricity markets around the world and provides definitive answers as to why some markets have performed admirably, while others have utterly failed, often with dire financial and cost consequences.

The lessons contained within are direct relevance to regulators, policy makers, the investment community, industry, academics and graduate students of electricity markets worldwide.

Foreword
Introduction
I. What's Wrong with the Status Quo?
1. Why Restructure Electricity Markets?
2. Sector-specific Market Power Regulation vs. General Competition Law
3. Chile: Where It All Started
4. Electricity Liberalization in Britain and the Evolution of Market Design
5. The Nordic Market: Robust by Design?
III. Evolving Markets
6. The Electricity Industry in Australia: Problems Along the Way to a National Electricity Market
7. Restructuring of the New Zealand Electricity Sector, 1984-2005
8. Energy Policy and Investment in the German Power Market
9. Competition in the Continental European Electricity Market: Despair of Work in Progress?
IV. North America, New World, New Challenges
10. California Electricity Restructuring, the Crisis, and Its Aftermath
11. Texas: The Most Robust Competitive Market in North America
12. Electricity Restructuring in Canada
13. The PJM Market
14. Independent System Operators in the United States: History, Lessons Learned, and Prospects
15. Competitive Retail Power Markets and Default Service
V. Other Markets
16. The Case of Brasil: Reform by Trial and Error?
17. Understanding the Argentinian and Colombian Electricity Markets
18. A New Stage of Electricity Liberalization in Japan: Issues and Expectations