The power and utilities industry has undergone tremendous change in recent years, with the widespread adoption of privatized models, deregulation and competition in areas such as wholesale generation and customer supply, and the development of energy trading activities. The need for massive new investment in capacity and infrastructure has prompted cross-border investment in what were previously purely domestic operations. Further, the power sector is being transformed by measures designed to address the climate change implications of carbon emissions.

All of these developments mean that financial reporting for the industry presents a range of specific issues. This survey discusses many of these industry accounting issues and provides illustrations of how companies have sought to address them. We believe that you will find this publication useful in assessing the type of information being disclosed in practice, and the formats and methods of disclosure. Each section is accompanied by survey results and a high level summary focusing on power and utilities specific issues. A summary of the main industry related differences between U.S. GAAP and IFRSs also is included.