An essential industry at the crossroads: Deregulation, restructuring, and a new model for the United States' bulk power system

Today, the electric utility industry faces an uncertain future. Political, regional and intra-industry debates are delaying legislation and rules for industry operation---which are needed to ensure the viability of this essential industry and its service. This thesis proposes a new architecture, or model, for this industry. This new architecture will ensure all consumers throughout the United States, receive reliable and cost-effective electricity.; This thesis briefly reviews the history of the electric utility industry, from its competitive beginnings to its regulation as a natural monopoly and finally, to its evolution into the present day configuration of three interconnected transmission networks that cover North America.; The thesis also examines the effects on the industry of several compounding factors: the 1970s energy crisis, increased electricity costs, improved generation technologies, and the desire to deregulate the generation sector, previously a natural monopoly. Industry policy issues ranging from the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) up to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Standard Market Design (SMD) White Paper are reviewed and summarized.; Finally, the problems associated with present-day restructuring efforts are summarized, and an architecture, or model, which resolves these problems and introduces benefits to industry restructuring, is proposed. The architecture of this new model, as proposed by this thesis, calls for the creation of a two-Independent Transmission Operator (ITO) model for the entire United States with national oversight by a newly established National Power Administration (NPA). Transmission is a national and interstate concern and should be treated accordingly. To optimize the cost-benefit operation of the nation's bulk power system, issues must be addressed by interconnection across the entire nation.