Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

Much water has gone over the dam since the onset of electric power deregulation, and some of the good intentions that spawned the movement may have been washed out to sea. One of the results is the inability of the marketplace to demonstrate that the cost of delivered power to end users has been minimized at an acceptable level of reliability. The necessary institutional and regulatory frameworks for allowing the creation of optimal markets or true competition are still incomplete or counterproductive. Thus, our electric power infrastructure is a proverbial ship floating on the storm-tossed ocean, in danger of sinking beneath the waves.

I believe the primary measure of successful "deregulation" is a minimization of the delivered cost of power to end users, at an acceptable level of reliability. To help achieve that, I suggest the following actions should be taken nationwide on a timely and consistent basis. I arrive at these suggestions based on my experience, including participating in approximately 1,000 committee meetings concerned with ISO/RTO formation and implementation around the country over the last 10 years or so.