Respecting Rights: Balancing Competition and Collaboration

I just recieved a message from a colaborator with the news from Power Engineering Magazine that "Indonesian blackout affects 100 million."

 

19 August 2005 - Indonesia's state owned electricity company, PLN, is to pay out millions in compensation to companies following the extensive blackouts that left half of the country's population without power. The blackouts, which lasted for five hours during peak daytime yesterday, prevented flights leaving the country's international airport, disrupted the train network and caused traffic chaos in the capital."

 

Believe it or not, compensation is a key missing link that is needed to solve the electricity crisis. We are just fooling ourselves, thinking that there is a solution without that feedback link between the wholesale and retail market. Retail deregulation is the key to a real electricity market, which let custumers segment themselves in accordance with their sensibilities to interruptions.

 

Retail competition is where real competition is at. In addition of being a tool for the design of service plans, Demand Response, on the other hand, is the means for cooperation to keep the system fully reliable. Just as the agents have rights, costumer also need to have their rights respected. The Pending Task is a must.