A recent poll of Louisiana voters, conducted by Peak Insights, reveals a striking trend: while many initially support electricity deregulation, that support collapses once they learn what it actually means.
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Within the traditional utility regulatory model, utilities receive a franchise to provide electricity to an entire geographic area, planning for reliable power and relatively predictable prices for consumers.
Two decades ago, a wave of utility restructuring swept parts of the country. With it came different “flavors” of utility regulation. Some states permitted their utilities to participate in wholesale power markets, with competition between electric generators administered by Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) and Independent System Operators (ISOs).In some cases, states went even further and “deregulated” their utilities through full “unbundling,” which included a divestiture of generation assets to third party operators and enactment of electricity “retail choice.”
Most prominent were Texas and several states in the Northeast and Midwest. Advocates of deregulation promised more competition, innovation, reliable service and lower consumer prices.
Deregulation has not delivered on those promises.
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