Standard & Poor's (S&P) has released a survey of 90 state regulators and their opinions on electric utility deregulation, conducted by RKS Research and Consulting. S&P intends to use the survey to assess the "nonquantifiable risks and opportunities" of competition.
The study found that state regulators and staff do not fully support stranded-cost recovery through cost allocation at the state level. Regulators would prefer to share stranded costs among large customers, small commercial and residential customers, and shareholders. However, 26 percent feel utilities should not recover stranded costs. The survey also found:
s 92 percent believe market-price regulation will replace retail cost-of-service regulation.
s 50 percent believe it is important to protect the financial health of utilities.
s 33 percent believe that eliminating service territory protection should be a major goal.
s 8 percent support protecting the electric utility monopoly.