Electric Utilities and Deregulation

Historically, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regulated corporate sales of power to municipalities and cooperatives for resale. All such wholesale transactions were subject to this federal regulation even when all parties were located within the same state. The FERC also regulated large volume, high-voltage bulk power sales by corporate utilities to each other. FERC also coordinates agreements (power pools) and the rates and terms of transmission contracts. It is also within the FERC's jurisdiction to order one utility to interconnect with another or to sell bulk power to it ().

One of the cornerstones of regulation in the utility industry is the way in which utilities are permitted to bill for their products and services. Rate base regulation was in force throughout the industr

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nation (Goyal 27). By the 1970s, rapid increases in energy prices revealed that some companies were overly dependent on oil or excessive fuel consumption. These companies saw their utility costs increase substantially as the price of electricity rose. The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) created a new class of preferred power producers, the Qualified Facilities (QFs) and provided a serious challenge to the idea that only MVIUs were suitable for providing electricity to consumers (). In the late 1980s and early 1990s, some US states began to restructure their electric power sectors. During these early moves toward deregulation, there was some concern that the federal government might have prevented states from controlling how utilities were, and were not, regulated. In 1996, the Vermont Public Service Board commissioner went on record as being concerned about the decreasing influence of state authority in a restructured environment. During April 1996, California announced that it would become the first state to recommend to FERC regulators comprehensive ways to implement a new competitive electric market structure designed to bring about lower prices and more choices to consumers. The results of that p
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Commission FERC, California Edison, Move Deregulation, Canada Texas, Utilities Commission, Howe Rasmussen, Commissions PUC, Service Board, January California, Massachusetts California, electric power, public utility, rate base, power plants, utility industry, federal government, rate return, regulation utility industry, electricity generated, investment cost, deregulated electric,
Approximate Word count = 1575
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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