About ten years ago, the network-oriented markets for electricity and natural gas were opened. The formerly vertically integrated companies were partly disintegrated, the regional or local monopolies were removed, and customers received the possibility to choose their supplier as in other industries. This led to fundamental changes in the market structure. In an industry with relatively low growth of demand, companies were looking for additional growth and at the same time reacted to competitive pressures. Often mergers, acquisitions, and alliances were the strategic answer. The period of...