ABSTRACT
To deal with the problem and to encourage economic development, states stepped in with a regulatory compact: they would grant utilities exclusive monopolies in geographically defined territories in exchange for the right to regulate their pricing, services, and other activities. Wherever wholesale markets are considered "organized", utilities are no longer required to buy qualifying facility power at their avoided costs under long-term contracts. As utilities' territories expanded and began to border each other, some determined that it was economical to connect to each other as a low-cost way to enhance reliability and avoid the need to build and maintain completely independent systems. Most of the remaining non-ISO transmission exists in rural western and southern US Utilities provide one or more of the following services: generation, transmission, and distribution. Some produce and sell only wholesale power to utilities that later sell it to end users as retail power. Instead of generating it, many utilities merely deliver power they get from others.
