Electricity

Futures in electricity promise to be the next sector of the energy marketplace to be traded on an exchange. As was true of both the crude oil and the natural gas markets, liberalization of the underlying market is proving to be a slow process and plans for trading the futures have been slowed by regulatory issues. The NYMEX was originally sched­uled to begin trading electricity futures in 1995, but that start date has been postponed until sometime in 1996. The  cash market will need to be further developed before a futures contract can be successfully launched. While the California Public Utilities Commission expects to open its market for retail competition at the beginning of 1996, new rules put forth by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission may slow progress in this sector.²⁰