The state road map
In the past year, electric industry restructuring has become a hot issue in virtually every state - not only those with high retail rates. So far this year, retail access legislation has been introduced in 23 states, and study bills have been introduced in another nine. Several of these states have already taken action. Oklahoma enacted the Electric Restructuring Act of 1997 in late April, mandating retail choice of generation suppliers by 2002, and legislatures in Maryland, Utah, Arkansas and Idaho adopted study bills. On the regulatory front, formal and substantive commission proceedings are moving forward in well over half the states. State legislatures and regulatory commissions around the country are keenly focused on those states which already enacted retail access legislation and are now slogging through the details of implementation. Even with new laws in place, heated debates on the issues surrounding both deregulation of generation and the evolution of the retail energy service market continue, and delays are possible. Retail energy service companies could begin competing for up to 20 million retail customers next year in Massachusetts, California, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, along with a significant number of new pilot-program customers in Pennsylvania and New York. This article gives a brief progress report on the states closest to retail choice.
- OSTI ID:
- 577460
- Journal Information:
- Independent Energy, Journal Name: Independent Energy Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 27; ISSN 1043-7320; ISSN IDPEEW
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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