The impossible dream? How Nuclear Electric, Ltd. pulled itself out of the ashes of government ownership and became highly competitive in a privatized and deregulating British power market
- Marshall-Qualtec, Inc., Scottsdale, AZ (United States)
The day was dark for Nuclear Electric plc. when the British government decided it would privatize and deregulate the electric utility industry. For years, Nuclear Electric and other UK-based fossil power producers had been operating in a regulated market where the state set and guaranteed the price of electricity. All that was changing in Britain as the government introduced competition and as customers looked forward to purchasing power from the lowest bidder. Essentially the situation in England was much the same as it is now in the US: there was major momentum toward deregulation. The reality of competition in Britain came as good news to many power producers--in particular those who kept the lights on cost effectively. Others, However, weren`t so optimistic, especially nuclear plants that traditionally bear higher safety and maintenance costs than their fossil counterparts. Taking its cues from the City (Britain`s Wall Street), the British government simply considered nuclear generators to be unreliable, high cost, unprofitable organizations incapable of surviving in a privatized environment. It therefore left its nuclear power plants off the docket when selling (privatizing) its generating capacity. This paper describes how Nuclear Electric Ltd. became competitive in a deregulated environment.
- OSTI ID:
- 318915
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-980426--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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