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Implementing Electricity Restructuring

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Abstract

Electricity is one of the last U.S.industries in which competition is replacingregulation. We briefly review the technologyfor producing and delivering power, the historyof electricity policy, and recent state andinternational experience. We then outline themajor questions facing policymakers as theydecide whether, when, and how to implementrestructuring. We conclude with some thoughtson the California electricity crisis and otherpolitical controversies. Although theCalifornia experience has come to define whatit means for electricity markets to fail, mostof the problems it raised are among those weknow how to solve or prevent. The stillunresolved make-or-break issue remains whetherthe cooperation necessary to maintainreliability is compatible with the degree ofcompetition necessary to bring about greaterefficiency and lower prices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Policy Sciences and Economics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Resources for the Future, USA

    Timothy J. Brennan

  2. Resources for the Future, 1616 P Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20036, USA

    Karen Palmer

  3. Department of Economics, University of Florida, USA

    Salvador Martinez

Authors
  1. Timothy J. Brennan
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  2. Karen Palmer
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  3. Salvador Martinez
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Brennan, T.J., Palmer, K. & Martinez, S. Implementing Electricity Restructuring. Environ Resource Econ 22, 99–132 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015579618835

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