Category Archives: Electric Deregulation
TCAP Releases Report for 10-Year Anniversary of Deregulation
So, after 10 years of electric deregulation: how has Texas fared? A new report from the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power provides answers. Continue reading
Texans under deregulation have paid $3,100 more for electricity
Is the deregulated electricity market finally paying off for Texas consumers? After all, average prices statewide have come down since 2008. Consumer complaints also are falling. Doesn’t that mean that success has arrived at last? Unfortunately, the answer is “not yet.” As noted earlier on the Recharge Ratepayer Report, complaints are down but still remain well above pre-deregulation levels. A … Continue reading
Policy Spotlight: Texans to Pay $6.5 billion in electric deregulation costs
Consumers can expect to pay higher electric bills over the next decade largely because of decisions this year by the Texas Supreme Court. Two major utilities — CenterPoint Energy, which serves the Greater Houston area, and American Electric Power Texas Central Company in South Texas — earlier had called upon the state’s high court to overturn regulatory rulings relating to the companies’ requests for … Continue reading
Texas Electricity Market Still Not Matching Pre-Deregulation Levels
Here’s the good news. The most recent federal data from the United States Energy Information Administration shows that residential electricity prices in Texas have dipped below the national average. That means Texans are saving on their electric bills, at least in comparison to the rest of the nation. Now, comes the bad news: relative to the rest of the nation, … Continue reading
ERCOT’s market “watchdog” wants higher electric prices
The Independent Market Monitor — a position created by the Texas Legislature in 2005 to act as a watchdog of the state’s wholesale electricity market — recently issued its annual State of the Market Report for 2010. The report was unusual in that it addressed the final year of the “zonal” system, which ERCOT has used to manage the wholesale … Continue reading
Feds: ERCOT needs more blackout authority
Although relatively rare in Texas history, rolling blackouts have now occurred twice since the state deregulated its electricity markets. The last occurred on Feb. 2, when 1.3 million customers suddenly lost power. Not surprisingly, questions have been raised. For instance, why did so many of the state’s power plants fail? During the most difficult point of the crisis more than 200 Texas generating plants … Continue reading
Poor Texans Pay Needlessly Because of Fund Loss
Criticism mounts over divergence of System Benefit Fund Tens of thousands of low-income Texans will pay higher-than-necessary electric bills this summer because a special fund to help them has gone largely untapped. That’s the word from several news outlets, which are reporting that only a small fraction of the state’s System Benefit Fund has been appropriated for its intended purpose. The SBF … Continue reading
Electricity Complaints Skyrocket under Deregulation
From a RechargeTexas.com press release issued 7/25: July 25, 2011 – Austin, TEXAS – Electricity complaints have skyrocketed under the Texas electric deregulation law — from fewer than 2,100 received each year by the state’s Public Utility Commission to an average of more than 12,000 under deregulation, according to an analysis by RechargeTexas.com. Texans have lodged more than 800 percent … Continue reading
Electric Deregulation Still Failing to Deliver For Texans
There’s a lot been made about the relationship between natural gas prices and how much we all pay for electricity. That’s because a large portion of the energy sold in the Lone Star State comes from gas-fired electricity plants. So when the price of natural gas goes down, so too does the price of electricity. We’ve witnessed that trend over … Continue reading
Warning: New Proposals Designed to Increase Prices, Company Profits
Artificial price supports in the competitive market? Price caps become price floors? New regulatory proposals offer “heads I win, tails you lose” vision of deregulation. Continue reading →