National grid information exchange likely

A web-based information exchange on national grid networks is likely to be approved in the next few days, sources told RiskNews ’ sister publication Energy & Power Risk Management at the World Forum on Energy Regulation conference in Rome today. The initiative is being set up in response to the blackouts that affected Italy and parts of the US and Canada in the past month and viewed as a vital component for the smooth running of the energy derivatives market, the sources added.

The details of the initiative are, as of yet, unknown, but are likely to be approved, on a voluntary basis, by European, US and Canadian energy regulatory bodies, these sources said. Energy regulators from around the world are currently meeting in Rome, at a conference opened by Italian president Carlo Ciampi.

Italian, French and Swiss energy regulatory bodies also agreed to carry out a joint inquiry into the behaviour of their interconnected power system today in a bid to understand the