Business model for reliability management in deregulated markets

Effective technical decision making in deregulated markets will depend upon a clear understanding of business relationships. Unbundling of the vertically integrated utility into its four functions, generation, transmission, distribution and retailing, implies that each business will develop its own unique sets of products and customers. The interaction between the suppliers of the various products and their customers will be governed by contracts. A clear understanding of the new delineation of responsibilities and the new contract relationships between the parties will be the key to management of supply and delivery business reliability.