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This paper aims to investigate the manner in which technological innovation in the European electrical-grid sector has developed by focusing, in particular, on the effect of public policy on innovation. To achieve this aim, this paper highlights how technological innovation and development progressed from the 1960s to the 1980s, and contrasts this period with the deregulated/privatization environment.

The paper is based on a series of in-depth multiple company case studies of grid companies, some of their suppliers and other actors in their broader business network. Empirical data were collected through 55 interviews.

The authors find that a phase of mutual collaboration was encouraged in the first period, which led to strong technological innovation with a focus on product quality and the development of functionality. Buyers played a pivotal role in the development of products and posed technical requirements. In contrast, the current role of the buyer has transformed principally into one of evaluating competing bids for specific projects. Today, buyers face increasing pressure to substantially lower CO₂ emissions and transform the energy grid system. These goals are difficult to achieve without a new way of thinking about innovation.

Models to achieve innovation must not only focus on individual research projects; instead, the innovation should be factored into normal business dealings in the supply chain.

We propose that policymakers and regulators need to: accommodate for innovation and address the collaborative elements of innovation when developing policies and regulations. Furthermore, regulators have the option of either developing a strategic vision for the electrical-grid network or incorporating sustainability into the evaluation of electrical grids and, thus, consumers’ willingness to pay.

This paper makes a distinctive contribution in the area of innovation for electrical grids. Our paper shows how innovation and the development of new technology for electrical grids changed over time. Furthermore, this paper describes the energy sector in terms of a business network comprising the different actors involved in innovation and development and, thus, their role in the energy supply chain.

This chapter shares the experience of National Grid to orchestrate two Appreciative Inquiry Summits in Massachusetts. One was framed around sustainability for the City of Worcester, Massachusetts, and the other was an industry-wide effort on energy efficiency in Massachusetts. The chapter demonstrates the potential for generative impact and transformation in complex and highly contentious environments. It also presents possible implications for the highly regulated energy utility industry and for the energy utilities that choose to lead the way.

Discusses assessment centres set up during the reorganization of the National Grid Company after privatization. Assessment centres are used to evaluate the skills and personal capabilities of employees. This allows the company to identify future talent, draw up personal development plans, evaluate training requirements and facilitate organizational change.

Automatic contingency selection aims to quickly predict the impact of a set of next contingencies on an electric power system without actually performing a full ac load flow. Artificial neural network methods have been employed to overcome the masking effects or slow execution associated with existing methods. However, the large number of input features for the ANN limits its applications to large power systems. In this paper, a novel feature selection method, named the Weak Nodes method, based on a heuristic approach is proposed for an ANN‐based automatic contingency selection for electric power system, especially for the voltage ranking problem. Pre‐contingency state variables of weak nodes in the power system are adopted as input features for the ANN. The method is tested on the 77 busbar NGC derived network by Counter‐propagation Method and it is proved that it reduces the input features for ANN dramatically without losing ranking accuracy.

Explores the methods used by the Central Division of the National Grid Company to educate their employees on the benefits of TQM, thus smoothing the transfer from the public to the private sector.

The paper aims to relate how power‐supply company National Grid, formerly known as Transco, trained and assessed more than 2,430 engineers throughout England, Scotland and Wales within five months – while maintaining high standards of service to customers.

The paper draws on information from Transco's performance and technology manager, provided in a submission to the National Training Awards.

The paper describes how engineers working for Transco are required by the UK Health and Safety Executive to be assessed every five years through the national Accredited Certification Scheme (ACS), and they have to be registered with the Confederation of Registered Gas Installers (CORGI). They also need an additional level of competence to deal with emergencies. Transco's solution was to develop an outstanding level NVQ level three qualification for its existing engineers, and the new recruits it needed as 40 percent of them are over 45 years of age. Agreement on the new NVQ was reached after 12 months of negotiations involving Transco, the GMB union, EU Skills, HSE, CORGI, Advantica Training Services, City & Guilds and the Learning Skills Council.

The engineers can now fit and maintain the full range of gas meters – without calling in specialists; customer service has become a key competence; and 128 enthusiastic young people have achieved their Advanced Modern Apprenticeship, 15 of whom had no GCSEs when they started.

Transco could have taken the straightforward option and completed the established ACS route to qualification, but at a significant cost each year. To revolutionize the accepted qualification route took courage and determination from numerous stakeholders.

The privatisation of the electricity industry was badly flawed. It created a generating duopoly in the form of National Power and Powergen. These two companies have a degree of control which is incompatible with the concept of the open market and which is detrimental to the interests of the consumer. Given the power of that duopoly, it is doubtful whether the Governmental regulatory authority, OFFER, can effect real change without a referral to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.

Voltage ranking attempts to rank busbar voltage deviations from their normally accepted security margins based on a set of performance indices (PI), without performing a full load flow. Existing methods suffer from either masking effects or long computation time. In this paper, an artificial neural network method is proposed for voltage ranking. Counterpropagation network (CPN) has been employed to overcome the problems listed above. A variety of input features are used with the aim of lowering the dimension of the proposed ANN to make it applicable for large power systems. The method is tested on two example systems, a five‐bus system and a 71‐bus system with very encouraging results.

The electric power industry has been moving from a regulated monopoly structure to a deregulated market structure in many countries. The purpose of this study is to comprehensively review the existing markets to study advantages, issues involved and lessons learnt to benefit emerging electricity markets.

The paper employs a comprehensive review of existing competitive electricity market models in USA (California), UK, Australia, Nordic Countries (Norway), and developing country (Chile) to analyze the similarities, differences, weaknesses, and strengths among these markets based on publically available data, literature review and information.

Ongoing or forthcoming electricity sector restructuring activities in some countries can be better designed based on lessons learnt from existing markets and incorporating their own political, technical and economical contexts. A template for design of successful electricity market has also been presented.

This study is limited to a comparative analysis of five markets and can be extended in the future for other existing and emerging electricity markets.

The discussed weaknesses and strengths of existing electricity markets in this study can be practically utilized to improve the electricity industry market structures leading to several social benefits including lower electricity cost.

The comprehensive review and analysis of five existing markets, physically located in different continents, may be used as an assistance or reference guide to benefit the emerging electricity markets in other countries.

Provides both a descriptive and an analytical understanding of the supply chain for industrial electricity. It explains which actors in the chain have power and how this impacts upon the process of value appropriation. There are three main elements. The first is a descriptive mapping of the supply chain based on key functional stages, resources and resource ownership. The second is a descriptive mapping of the corresponding value chain based on the revenues and gross profit margins typically being earned at each functional stage. The final element is a discussion of the power resources that determine the competitive dynamics, and by extension the appropriation of value, in the chain. Regulatory intervention by the state is identified as a key mediating factor in this case.