Bloomberg Gadfly columnist Liam Denning explains that the emergence of competitive energy markets is a novelty. Big Oil and Big Power largely grew up on the back of regulated or cartel-like models. Cracks began to appear toward the end of the 20th century, as the oil-futures market gave buyers and sellers an alternative to OPEC's price-setters and deregulation started chipping away at utility monopolies. This commentary aired on Bloomberg Radio.