Risk management for a non-storable commodity [in French]

Summary : the reforms endeavour in the electric sector should have led to a complete reshaping of the industrial structures, regulation modes and exchanges coordinating devices. Instead, most of the electric systems remain organized around vertically integrated companies, reducing the scope of decentralized transactions. The purpose of this paper is to show that, far from being framed by institutional factors, this situation is closely related to the specific ” physical ” feature of the electric commodity. Non storability, raising the risks supported by electric companies and traders, impedes the development of a liquid short-term financial market and plays as a strong incentive to vertical integration.