ABSTRACT
The elimination of bureaucratic rate regulation that is accompanied by a shift to market-centered systems in the power generation sector, termed deregulation, is a movement that is sweeping across the United States and the international community. This movement to deregulate the electric power industry in the United States has become what appears to be an unstoppable wave, as state after state enacts rate deregulation and restructuring legislation. Governments are pulling the plug on the monopolies held by huge investorowned utilities, allowing competition in the hopes that improving economic efficiency will result in rate reductions for consumers and industrial users. The effects of deregulation go beyond simple energy economics.
