Electric trade

ELECTRIC TRADE The UK Power Exchange (UKPX), created in June 1999, announced the formation of the United Kingdom's first electricity futures market, scheduled to begin trading in May 2000. The first contract will be for the delivery of electricity from October 2000 and beyond, the date the government

Andrew Foster, manager of the UKPX, says the demand is driven by the change in trading arrangements due to take effect in October. The monthly futures contracts will be designed to cascade into week and day futures contracts and finally into halfhour spot contracts. The goal of the new market is to enable refined planning for electricity buyers and sellers, as well as greater longterm price transparency.