Is an IOU (investor owned utility) the same as IPP (independent power producer)?

Rick recommended performing the utility risk assessment and in doing so I came across this concern of the acronyms between Rick's information and the eia.doc.gov site information.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 1999

Answers

Good question! The best explanation is by example, I think:

An Independent Power Producer (IPP) is a non-regulated, privately owned power generation company. An example of this would be U.S. Generating Company or Stithe Energy. They own power plants, and sell the electricity to the highest bidder (or may be under contract to a local power company to provide power to its system).

An Investor Owned Utility (IOU) is a publicly owned (traded) power company that is subject to state and federal rate regulation. IOU's can be typically viewed as the traditional, large, regulated power monopolies (say, ConEd in New York City).

Hope this helps a bit.

-- Anonymous, May 13, 1999