ABSTRACT
Regulation and De-Regulation 10.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter provides an overview of the power system regulation and deregulation, a “big picture” overview with concentration of the important concepts and differences between regulation and de-regulation, and the “why” behind choices governments and society make about whether and what type of de-regulated structure they choose for their electric energy infrastructure. It is a good chapter for a reader interested in understanding the “big-picture,” policy and societal issues to read if he or she only has time to read one chapter. Later chapters will delve into the details that show some of these key aspects, such as open access transmission, are implemented. Here, focus is on what open access and other de-regulation/regulation issues mean, why each might be chosen as a part of a de-regulated structure, and how each interacts with the other aspects. Neither regulation nor de-regulation is better than the other. Each brings advantages and dis-advantages that, under difference circumstances and from different perspectives, make one more appealing than the other. But for reasons that are discussed here, and in more detail later, in the 1990s many governments around the world decided to change from the traditional regulated paradigm, which permitted no competition among electric suppliers, to some form of management that did. Basically, that is what de-regulation is all about.
