Most
energy grids are owned by the entity,
utility
or national government that built the project. In
the United States, the normally means a public or
private utility. There
are both public and private utilities, plus municipal
utilities in some cities.
There
is usually a single electric grid within a service
territory. In
many nations, there is a single national utility,
so the network of lines and substations are owned
by the state.
Under
deregulation and privatization, there are sections
of grids that are now being proposed, financed,
and built by newly formed transmission companies
and their investors. Yet, energy grids are managed
in a cooperative way by system operators to minimize
power costs, level load fluctuations, maintain reliability
and provide back-up emergency.
The
ownership of growing grid networks doesn't change
as they expand interconnections. What's created
is similar to a wide area network — with more
generation points and transmission pathways.
In
essence, the grid becomes a common carrier for the
good of all. In almost all cases, these different
entities cooperate between each other in the exchange
of elelctric power —
a
mutually beneficial relationship for all.
So,
ownership of this interconnected grid is held by
thousands of companies and the nation-states, who
cooperate on the buying and selling of power across
those same lines.
