Electricity
Europe’s patchwork path to liberalisation
In the three years since the European Union’s Electricity Directive came into effect much has changed in Europe’s energy industry, but the industry is still far from achieving the goal of a pan-European energy market, as Matt Horsbrugh discovers
Mixed signals from the east
Flaws in Poland’s electricity regime have crippled Warsaw’s two-year-old power exchange. But Slovenia’s power exchange is faring rather better. Peter Joy reports
Worth waiting for?
Just over a year on from the delayed launch of the UK’s new electricity trading arrangements, prices have dropped to new lows. But just how low can generators go, asks Joel Hanley
Many are called, few are chosen
The market for power trading technology in Europe is mirroring the energy industry in the intensity of its competition. Benjamin Tait reports
Out on its own
European countries tend to have an appointed power market regulator, but Germany has taken a self-regulatory approach. How does the electricity spot price behave as a result? Tobias Federico offers an econometric analysis
At the heart of Europe
As the rest of Europe has still to get fully to grips with cross-border energy trading in a liberalising environment, Germany, Austria and Switzerland are providing an example of a workable regional electricity market, says Eurof Thomas
Facing up to the brave new world
US firm Xcel Energy is coming to terms with new market realities in the US – and not wholly as a result of the Enron factor. Don Stowers profiles the company