Introduction
Policy and regulatory issues have a profound impact on utility markets. The EU and US differ greatly in their approaches to market liberalization, wholesale market development, security of supply and the environment. Understanding how the key issues will evolve requires a nuanced appreciation of these varied regulatory approaches.

Scope
An examination of the pace and nature of retail market liberalization measures in gas and power, in both the EU and US.
An examination of wholesale market development in gas and power, including a review of regional transmission organization development in the US.
An analysis and projection of the security of supply focus of power markets in both the US and EU.
An assessment of current measures to meet environmental obligations, from metering initiatives to carbon trading schemes.
Highlights
Effective wholesale markets require independent transmission systems. The EU has succeeded in implementing legal unbundling of transmission operators for gas and power. The US has implemented ownership unbundling in gas, but failed to unbundle power transmission. Investigations in 2006 have show that discriminatory practices in the US remain.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is heavily focused on investigations of potential price collusion in the petroleum industry, and is not focused on liberalization in the power and gas sector. In fact, in stark contrast to the situation in the EU, the US government has pushed parts of competition oversight to the regulatory level.

The US federal government has required public utilities to install smart meters, but will not impose similar requirements on investor-owned utilities. In contrast the EU has a May 2008 deadline for time-of-use metering in gas and power that applies to all utilities. Some countries, such as Italy, are already leaders in smart meter implementation.

Reasons to Purchase
Understand retail market opening and wholesale market development timelines and dynamics in the EU and US.
Project how European and American generation capacity will change in response to security of supply concerns.
Understand the major energy efficiency and carbon reduction initiatives in the US and EU.

Introduction
Policy and regulatory issues have a profound impact on utility markets. The EU and US differ greatly in their approaches to market liberalization, wholesale market development, security of supply and the environment. Understanding how the key issues will evolve requires a nuanced appreciation of these varied regulatory approaches.

Scope
An examination of the pace and nature of retail market liberalization measures in gas and power, in both the EU and US.
An examination of wholesale market development in gas and power, including a review of regional transmission organization development in the US.
An analysis and projection of the security of supply focus of power markets in both the US and EU.
An assessment of current measures to meet environmental obligations, from metering initiatives to carbon trading schemes.
Highlights
Effective wholesale markets require independent transmission systems. The EU has succeeded in implementing legal unbundling of transmission operators for gas and power. The US has implemented ownership unbundling in gas, but failed to unbundle power transmission. Investigations in 2006 have show that discriminatory practices in the US remain.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is heavily focused on investigations of potential price collusion in the petroleum industry, and is not focused on liberalization in the power and gas sector. In fact, in stark contrast to the situation in the EU, the US government has pushed parts of competition oversight to the regulatory level.

The US federal government has required public utilities to install smart meters, but will not impose similar requirements on investor-owned utilities. In contrast the EU has a May 2008 deadline for time-of-use metering in gas and power that applies to all utilities. Some countries, such as Italy, are already leaders in smart meter implementation.

Reasons to Purchase
Understand retail market opening and wholesale market development timelines and dynamics in the EU and US.
Project how European and American generation capacity will change in response to security of supply concerns.
Understand the major energy efficiency and carbon reduction initiatives in the US and EU.