Abstract

The U.S. bulk power system has an enormous number of actors: regulatory agencies (local, state, and federal), utilities (investor-owned, municipal, cooperatives, and power marketing administrations), operators (ISOs and RTOs), and customers. Mandates for the bulk power system are that it be cheap, equitable, and reliable – and, increasingly, clean or renewable. Presented herein is a digestible introduction to some of the major players (and types of players) within the system, some of the major regulatory and deregulatory milestones since the grid’s inception in the early 20th century, and the functions of the U.S. electricity wholesale market.