While Econometricians have studied the distribution of electricity- marketing scholars seem to have been more comfortable in studying the distribution of soap,chips and soda. : "Soap is simply more glamorous than electricity" both my academic and practitioner friends in marketing affirm. Anyhow the importance of distributing electricity comes to sharp focus when electricity becomes uncertain particularly in difficult natural disaster conditions like Katrina. In the developing world Electricity and its distribution is really a big deal and distributing electricity and realizing payment, reducing distribution losses and power theft can be major challenges. Coupled with this if you have a shortage of electricity or a surplus you don’t want to deal with the electricity market to buy and sell power as needed. Electricity trading is just too "knowledge based" to try and do entirely in the Electricity company. Accordingly, North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number One (NCMPA1) has extended its contract with ACES Power Marketing (APM) for "hourly wholesale power execution transaction services". Brian Beebe of APM is right when he says that each company is better off staying with its core competencies. With power generation and distribution improving on a global multi-country scale; electricity trading will be something to watch with interest.