Utility Suppliers, Power, and You

摘要

The comfort zone set by the rate-freeze safety nets put into place during the retail electricity market deregulation in the 1990s could start to become a little uncomfortable for businesses -and buildings - across the United States. During deregulation, nearly half of U.S. states set rate caps on electrical prices to give competition a chance to flourish and to prevent market disruptions. They lowered rates and then froze them for a few years, or found other methods to keep prices low and stable. That's about to change: According to a Feb. 28, 2006, report in The Wall Street Journal, rate freezes have expired in several states, including New Jersey, New York, and Ohio. The remaining caps are set to expire within the next year in roughly a half-dozen large states, including Illinois, Michigan, and Texas.