Why Power Prices Are Rising Faster in Deregulated States

Back in the last century, when neo-liberalism, deregulation, and privatization were all the rage, we, in the USA, decided to restructure and deregulate the electricity industry, on the theory that such action would bring about the same benefits to electricity consumers as it did for consumers of transportation, natural gas, and telecommunications. The idea took hold mainly in states where consumers paid high prices for electricity. The other states decided to leave well enough alone. The introduction of competition and industry restructuring to…