New Regulatory Models

摘要

There continues to be much discussion about the need for electric utilities to change-their business model. Many from outside the industry seem to believe it is just a question of will, as if it were merely a matter of obtaining the approval from a utility's board of directors. In spite of all the cajoling by entrepreneurs and other industry outsiders, electric utilities in the U.S. cannot transform their business models unilaterally without their regulators' concurrence. Regulators hold the keys to the utility cash register, and outside the realm of certain technology startups, new business models do not survive long without positive net revenue.