Surveys the current situation and market status of distributed generation in selected OECD countries, including the impact of current energy policies.

Electric power in OECD countries is mostly produced by large central generating stations, then transmitted along high voltage lines to local distribution systems that carry it to final consumers. Distributed generation plants are different.

Distributed Generation and its Implications for the Utility Industry examines the current state of the electric supply industry; the upstream and downstream of the meter; the various technological, business, and regulatory strategies; and case studies that look at a number of projects that put new models into practice. A number of powerful trends are beginning to affect the fundamentals of the electric utility business as we know it. Recent developments have led to a fundamental re-thinking of the electric supply industry and its traditional method of measuring consumption on a volumetric basis. These developments include decreasing electricity demand growth; the rising cost of fossil fuels and its impact on electricity costs; investment in energy efficiency; increasing numbers of prosumers who generate for some or all of their own needs; and market reforms. This book examines the implications of these trends in chapters focusing on distributed and decentralized generation, transactive energy, the role of electric vehicles, any much more. - Discusses the technological, business, and policy trends most impacting the electric utility sector - Provides an assessment of how fast and how soon distributed energy resources may make an impact on utility sales/revenues - Explores, through a series of international case studies, the implementation of strategies that may help retain the viability of the utility industry - Features contributions from a number of scholars, academics, experts and practitioners from different parts of the world focused on examining the future of the electric supply industry

After 2 decades, policymakers and regulators agree that electricity market reform, liberalization and privatization remains partly art. Moreover, the international experience suggests that in nearly all cases, initial market reform leads to unintended consequences or introduces new risks, which must be addressed in subsequent “reform of the reforms. Competitive Electricity Markets describes the evolution of the market reform process including a number of challenging issues such as infrastructure investment, resource adequacy, capacity and demand participation, market power, distributed generation, renewable energy and global climate change. Sequel to Electricity Market Reform: An International Perspective in the same series published in 2006 Contributions from renowned scholars and practitioners on significant electricity market design and implementation issues Covers timely topics on the evolution of electricity market liberalization worldwide

The book gives a comprehensive overview of technologies for decentralised power generation (DG technologies), including those based on both renewable energy sources (RES), and on combined heat and power (CHP) technologies, and of relevant policies of the EU and its Member States. Special attention is paid to barriers to implementation and success factors that were drawn from 24 case studies carried out throughout the EU. Furthermore, the book offers policy recommendations regarding how to move towards a level playing field for DG technologies. Additionally, the analysis is founded on the results of a study for future developments in European DG technologies and likely scenarios for the role of DG in the future.