Quiz Entry - updated: 2026.07.30
In a local energy market, what do the Local Power Distributor (LPD) and Distributed System Operator (DSO) each do?
The LPD is the grid regulator (it distributes electricity in an area); the DSO manages the physical grid infrastructure, such as installing and running smart meters.
Both are institutional roles rather than traders:
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| LPD (Local Power Distributor) | Distributes electricity within a geographic area. In a centralized market it is the authoritative middleman; once trading is offloaded to a P2P platform, it steps back to a grid-regulator role. |
| DSO (Distributed System Operator) | Manages the grid infrastructure itself — e.g. providing and operating smart meters and other metering hardware. |
The design deliberately strips transactional power from the LPD (to prevent monopolization) while keeping both it and the DSO as macro-level supervisors. The actual traders are the other two roles: prosumers and pure consumers.