Electric power industry

The electric power industry covers the <a href="/facts/Electricity_generation/Uo6mQQ1T">generation</a>, <a href="/facts/Electric_power_transmission/I9w3lRmM">transmission</a>, <a href="/facts/Electric_power_distribution/F5NfTeWP">distribution</a> and <a href="/facts/Electricity_retailing/VTQzDzxv">sale</a> of <a href="/facts/Electric_power/w61ID9yQ">electric power</a> to the general public and industry. The commercial distribution of electric power started in 1882 when electricity was produced for <a href="/facts/Electric_lighting/v3fb5WBp">electric lighting</a>. In the 1880s and 1890s, growing economic and safety concerns lead to the regulation of the industry. What was once an expensive novelty limited to the most densely populated areas, reliable and economical electric power has become an essential aspect for normal operation of all elements of developed economies.
By the middle of the 20th century, electricity was seen as a "<a href="/facts/Natural_monopoly/Mgy20eU3">natural monopoly</a>", only efficient if a restricted number of organizations participated in the market; in some areas, vertically integrated companies provide all stages from generation to retail, and only governmental supervision regulated the rate of return and cost structure.
Since the 1990s, many regions have broken up the generation and distribution of electric power. While such markets can be abusively <a href="/facts/Market_manipulation/80yBjLpN">manipulated</a> with consequent adverse price and reliability impact to consumers, generally competitive production of electrical energy leads to worthwhile improvements in efficiency. However, transmission and distribution are harder problems since <a href="/facts/Return_on_investment/M8qYt4Yf">returns on investment</a> are not as easy to find.

Electric power industry open-in-new

Electric power industry