Utility deregulation and its impact on the industrial power systems

Today´s electric power industry is undergoing many fundamental changes due to the process of deregulation. Traditionally, electric power systems in many countries are structured in a single vertically integrated company for providing electric power to their customers based on cost-of-service. However, a number of countries have implemented or are implementing a free market deregulated industry in recent years. It is strongly believed that deregulation will have profound and important implications on technology within the electric power industry and the operations of industrial power systems. Therefore, not only the power industry as a whole must re-evaluate its future planning, but also the industrial sectors need to re-evaluate their potential impacts and strategy of operations under the deregulated environment. This paper discusses the deregulation activities in other countries, the implementation within the United States, and its potential impact on the operations of the industrial power systems