Question

what are the types of system operators

Answer 1

Among the other types of operator used in computer programming are: assignment operator.

Answer 2

What are systems operators?
‘Systems operation’ and ‘system operators’ are terms which have only recently begun to feature
in the debate about the regulation of network industries. But just as M Jourdain had spoken
prose for forty years without realising it, so the systems operator function was largely
unrecognised in the utility sector for decades, until liberalisation made it necessary to bring it
out into the light.
The simplest definition of a system operator is that it controls access to the network by service
providers and (possibly) extensions to it.
Note that this definition can readily apply within the context of:
(i) a single vertically integrated utility with multiple upstream sources and a single
retailer distributing the product over a network across a wide geographic area;
(ii) a fully ownership unbundled network with competing upstream and/or
downstream suppliers; and
(iii) intermediate models with (a) limited upstream and retail competition and with
or without network unbundling.

Types of SO: ITSOs, ISOs, ITOs and Virtual SOs
At the single area level, the most obvious example of a fully unbundled model is where there are
competitive upstream (wholesale) and downstream (retail) markets with the traded commodity
being sold over a monopoly physical network which is in ownership separate from upstream and
downstream markets. In this model, the SO is frequently integrated with the transmission
operator into an ITSO – an independent transmission and system operator. The classic ITSO
examples are US natural gas, England and Wales electricity and GB6
railways. A key point is that
the network company revenues come solely from network charges; at no stage does the
network company buy, sell or trade in the relevant commodity (or service).
However, other SO variants exist along with upstream and downstream markets that are
competitive at least to some degree. These other variants include ISOs and ITOs (independent
transmission organisations).
ITSOs have typically been the recommended SO variant in single areas both for natural gas and
electricity7
. However, even in those circumstances, there are potential conflicts of interest
between SO and TO functions over transmission investment and operation e.g. with the SO part
of the ITSO having an incentive to favour the transmission development plans of the TO part.8
In
consequence, the system operation function is often weakly separated and separately regulated
from the transmission function (as in Britain).
A growing pressure on ITSOs is that, increasingly, the operation of integrated transmission
systems and upstream energy markets covers more than one transmission area, e.g. as the
areas covered by transmission systems expand to cover more than one network; and/or
transmission ownership becomes diverse within an area (viz. UK offshore transmission grids).
Hence, we see ISO and similar arrangements developing out of ITSOs. This has happened in
British electricity where there is a GB ISO covering the England and Wales ITSO and two Scottish
ITSOs.