ABSTRACT
Deregulating and restructuring the North American electric power industry have been advocated as a means of introducing new technologies into the industry Advocates say, “Look at the effect of deregulation in the telephone industry.” It is a fact that technological changes did occur in the telephone industry on the heels of deregulation. The new business environment will create not only new forms of regulation and competition, but also unprecedented needs for technological solutions to problems in the areas of systems operations and systems planning. Following the Great Northeast Blackout of 1965, the Federal Power Commission identified several needs for new technologies and techniques. Many of these technologies and techniques were subsequently addressed by the industry to maintain and enhance the reliability of the power systems during that era. Public policies and possible policy initiatives should be examined for all of the power-generation and energy-storage technologies.
