ABSTRACT
The experiences of the electric power industry have been heavily conditioned by economic regulation at the state and federal levels. After 1973, the electric power industry entered a much more volatile and less predictable period. The oil embargo by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries increased primary energy prices to utilities and, subsequently, to their retail customers. Throughout most of the 1960s, the electric power industry was one of the leading sectors of the economy in terms of technical innovation and productivity growth. The only remaining technological development in the electric power industry during this time period was nuclear power. Federal economic regulation also had a significant impact on the electric power industry. While all aspects of the National Energy Act affected the electric power industry, Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act was probably the most significant because it was designed to encourage more efficient use of energy through industrial cogeneration.
