Transmission in transition: bringing power to market

The US transmission network, representing only 7% of electric bills, is vital to a competitive electricity market. The author argues that the network needs to be controlled by people and firms that are completely disinterested in generation market outcomes. Transmission also needs to be controlled by its owners, who will regard further investments in the grid to be strategic, i.e., conducive to their business. Transmission is too important to be left to the government, or its ownership and control unnecessarily divided to the detriment of the public interest. He believes that the best structural form for transmission in the United States is a separate, for-profit independent transmission company.