A review of the electricity supply industry in Britain

The privatisation of the electricity supply industry (ESI) in Britain has been a complex and involved process. There are still a variety of problems that exist with the approach used and the implementation of the initial ideas. As other countries around the world are undergoing, or about to consider the privatisation of their own ESIs, the authors review the British ESI privatisation and identify a variety of key areas in which the move from a monopoly to a partly open market influenced by market forces has achieved its goals. A brief summary of the pre-privatised industry is followed by a detailed examination of the industry in its present state. Details are given of the operation of the newly formed generating companies, the distribution companies and the operation of the power pool. Special emphasis is given to two important areas: security of supply and the duties of the regulating body