Currents and sparks in Europe

Journal Article · Sat Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1995 · Electric Perspectives

OSTI ID:86704

Ketting, N

Transmission access has become a fiery issue as the European Commission and the various European Union nations try to reconcile open borders, system reliability, security of supply, the rights of states, and the interests of customers. Diversity is as complete among the nations of Europe as it is among the American states. The continuum ranges from tight to open systems where the state-owned monoply in France is the world`s largest electricity company and is by far the world`s largest electricity exporter. At the other end is the United Kingdom, heading strongly to a fully open, competitive market. Somewhere in the middle is the German system and many other arrangements are practiced in other European nations. The European Commission is wrestling with the enormous issue of unifying the electricity sector in the EU by opening it to free trade across borders - the European Union Treaty generally frowns on import and export monopolies. Yet most member nations wish to protect their national energy policies and security of supply. There are some obvious parallels to the American situation, where the federal government and 50 states are trying to coordinate a move to greater competition in wholesale markets. But imagine the complexities arising from a European Commission and 15 countries with vastly different electricity industries, economies and energy goals.

• OSTI ID: 86704
• Journal Information: Electric Perspectives, Journal Name: Electric Perspectives Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 20; ISSN ELPED9; ISSN 0364-474X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
COMPETITION
ELECTRIC POWER
ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY
ENERGY POLICY
EUROPEAN UNION
MONOPOLIES
POWER TRANSMISSION
TRADE