A new report about electric grid deregulation in Texas shows (yet again) that deregulation of electricity leads to much higher ratepayer costs:
In 2009, the report found 93 percent of Texans served by deregulated electric companies were charged above the national average. By comparison, 81 percent of customers outside deregulation paid less.
A 2007 story in USA Today examined state electricity deregulation policies and also found that they hadn’t ended well for ratepayers:
While average prices rose 21% in regulated states from 2002 to 2006, they leapt 36% in deregulated states where rate caps expired, according to a study by Ken Rose, senior fellow at the Institute of Public Utilities at Michigan State University.
Texas apparently didn’t learn the lesson from its hometown team and deregulation poster boy – Enron – which manipulated California’s deregulated market to precipitate the 2000-01 California electricity crisis.
