In addition to the sizable increase in generation capacity that would be required to energize a large fleet of EVs, the wires portion of the utility business would need to invest billions to accommodate changing power demands and dynamics.
Read More
Any casual observer of politics knows that hyperbole is a frequent, if unwelcome, occurrence in public policy advocacy. Sometimes, however, an exaggeration is so wild that it drifts into delusion. Such is the case with a collection of electric deregulation’s biggest boosters called the Texas Competitive Power Advocates (TCPA).
Read More
Supporters of the deregulated utility model like to portray themselves as plucky pro-consumer white knights, in contrast to traditionally regulated utilities. Turns out, the deregulated oligopolies are more than capable of securing the sort of anti-competitive, anti-consumer sweetheart deals that they accuse other companies of seeking.
Read More
Deregulation is sold in a variety of ways to the public, but it keeps coming up short in practice. To be sure, there are those who benefit – the competitive suppliers, the big customers, particularly from the tech industry –but the regular consumer has seen no benefit, and much confusion.
Read More
The latest developments in PJM are symptomatic of a broader issue that has been in plain sight for some time now: the RTO/ISO model, and particularly the strain of the capacity market model, is not only dysfunctional—it is outright failing.
Read More
It may be weeks until spring in much of the U.S., but ideas for fixing broken electricity markets are beginning to bud across the country. And while you wouldn’t know it if you only read current events through a Washington, DC lens, it has long been true that the frontlines of energy policy are in the states. With legislatures now in full swing throughout the country, it’s a good time to highlight some of the more interesting matters taking shape in the states.
Read More
As January turns to February, there is still time for one last New Year’s Resolution, so let’s start by offering a resolution to FERC Chairman Phillips: Emphasize the need for FERC to get back to basics.
Read More
The new year is a time for resolutions, both attainable and unattainable. In the state regulatory space, however, particularly in a time of rapid transition and challenging markets economics, it is important to develop a resolution with a clear and focused goal. For state regulators, regardless of political stripe or policy bent, the recent State of the State by new Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo is worthy of review and reflection.
Read More
The new year arrived with some bad press for the small but vocal group of electricity deregulation advocates that continues to peddle its preferred policy prescriptions. It came in the form of a New York Times article highlighting the failure of electricity deregulation to deliver on its promises of lower energy costs for consumers.
Read More
Over the next several weeks, this blog will propose New Year’s Resolutions for those in and around the electricity policy arena. We will start with one that should always be first in the minds of anyone with responsibility for oversight of the electric grid: shore up reliability and resource adequacy.
Read More
Last month, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) released its 2022-2023 Winter Reliability Assessment, and it should serve as a wake-up call for those still arguing that the deregulated electricity model is a beacon for the nation to follow.
The fact is, it is a failed experiment, and one no other state should adopt.
Read More
The anti-consumer effects of deregulation become more evident every day as the energy inflation crisis continues. It should serve as a wake-up call for those willing to study the outcomes being produced in our nation’s state policy incubators.
Read More
Any way you slice it, the coming legal battle over the alleged market manipulation is a bad look for the nation’s organized wholesale markets.
Read More
It is time to start encouraging creativity in business model development, then building a regulatory structure around the business model to ensure appropriate oversight and transparency. We can start with a signal from regulators, state and federal, and federal agencies charged with deploying IRA funding that this type of creativity will be rewarded in terms of regulatory support and even federal dollars. Otherwise, our transmission future is doomed to be a REPEAT of our transmission past, full of “just in time” transmission solutions or, even worse, no transmission at all.
Read More
Six Flags Fiesta Texas amusement park in San Antonio debuted a new roller coaster this past summer. The world’s steepest dive coaster, dubbed “Dr. Diabolical's Cliffhanger,” promises patrons that, “Once you are exposed to this menacing machine, you shall live forever…IN FEAR!”
It sounds not entirely unlike the deregulated Texas electricity market, another machine that has been delivering white-knuckled rides to the state’s residents.
Read More
So say a prayer for all those in Florida that have lost property – and far more important things – to Hurricane Ian. But don’t forget to remember the front-line utility workers too, while considering the legal, regulatory and financial mechanisms that make a functioning critical infrastructure network possible.
Read More
By now it’s no secret that this winter’s energy bills are forecast to rise just about everywhere. But it is well established that if you live in a deregulated state, that increase will, unfortunately, be faster and higher.
Read More
New England’s electricity rates have long been among the highest in the nation. To a certain degree, it is the result of geography. The region is not home to strong wind resources like the Great Plains, ample solar resources like the Southwest, or plentiful shale gas like the Marcellus. But in other respects, the region’s chronically high electricity rates are the result of public policy choices. Among those choices is the fact that 5 of the 6 New England states deregulated their utilities and have now exposed their residents to the vicissitudes of electricity markets that aren’t working for the benefit of consumers.
Read More
As California prepared for an epic Labor Day weekend heatwave and a round of potential rolling power outages, lawmakers were busy crafting a last-ditch effort to save the state’s single remaining nuclear power plant from retirement.
Read More
It goes without saying that the nation’s politics are bitterly divided. The recent straight party-line vote on the Inflation Reduction Act is proof of that. But now that the IRA is law, here is an idea that both Democrats and Republicans ought to be able to embrace: whatever one thinks of the legislation, the financial support contained in it should, at the very least, be directed to help consumers. It may seem an obvious thing to note, but the complex way utilities are regulated makes it less clear than Americans might imagine.
Read More