Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

10 Myths against retail competition in electricity

Journal Article · · Iron and Steel Engineer
OSTI ID:118892
 [1]
  1. Electricity Consumers Resource Council, Washington, DC (United States)

Electricity rates are too high throughout most of the US. The effects of high cost power reach far beyond the communities where the power is generated and sold. Ultimately, these costs hinder the global competitiveness of US business and industry, placing at risk tens of thousands of jobs throughout the country. Now is the time to restructure the electric utility industry into a fully competitive electricity marketplace. An essential feature of the new industry is customer choice, i.e., the implementation of retail competition in the provision of all electricity products and services, and the elimination of the traditional utility monopoly. An efficient, innovative electricity industry will preserve and increase American jobs and enhance US competitiveness. The long-term promise is lower cost power for consumers and a growing, more productive, domestic economy. No technical barriers stand in the way of an orderly transition to true retail competition in US electricity markets. Nonetheless, incumbent utilities oppose change and have advanced a number of myths with the intent of preserving thermomonopoly power and preventing customer choice. This paper refutes each of those myths and concludes that customer choice in electricity is inevitable.

OSTI ID:
118892
Report Number(s):
CONF-9509197--
Journal Information:
Iron and Steel Engineer, Journal Name: Iron and Steel Engineer Journal Issue: 9 Vol. 72; ISSN IRSEA5; ISSN 0021-1559
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

The 10 myths against retail competition in electricity
Journal Article · Fri Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 1997 · Iron and Steel Engineer · OSTI ID:452267

Beyond retail wheeling: Competitive sourcing of retail electric power
Journal Article · Thu Mar 31 23:00:00 EST 1994 · Electricity Journal · OSTI ID:35420

Competition, antitrust, and the marketplace for electricity
Journal Article · Tue Feb 28 23:00:00 EST 1995 · NRRI Quarterly Bulletin · OSTI ID:381206