A change in the way we purchase electricity offers an opportunity for new focus on its environmental impacts. The electric power system is the largest single source of industrial air pollution in the nation. Air pollution itself kills at least 64,000 people a year in the US and makes thousands more sick. Power plants emit a host of other dangerous substances - including nitrogen oxide, mercury and other toxic heavy metals and greenhouse gases. Soot and smoke from power plants leave fine particulates in the atmosphere creating haze that limits visibility in national parks and wilderness areas and creates health hazards for hikers, skiers and others who are active or working outdoors.
Consumers can affect the outcome of the deregulation process.
Several states that have deregulated their electricity market have required generators to produce a certain percentage of their power from new renewable sources. If this positive vision isn't realized, the alternative outcomes are grim. Deregulation of the retail electricity business is primarily being done to lower rates and spur economic activity. There is a growing recognition that deregulation could also lead to unintended and undesirable environmental consequences. Under deregulation, electricity will start to resemble other commodity markets where price is the dominant concern of buyers.