With nuclear power, energy from atomic fission creates the steam. And with hydroelectric power, water directly spins the turbine. The instant you need electricity, it is created by the utility responsible for serving you, which then sends it into a complex power grid to reach your home. Once there, you're billed based on your kilowatt-hour usage. The typical American household uses about 840 kilowatt-hours each month.
All states require that utilities have enough capacity to handle peak demand.
The 16 states that have already passed deregulation laws are home to 40 percent of the U.S. population. However, in sparsely populated states like those in the Pacific Northwest, power remains dirt cheap. Solar Two, which was connected to California's grid in 1996, can itself power 10,000 homes, and a larger-scale commercial plant based on it could handle as many as 200,000. After all, they say, that's what a free market is all about. The official Web site of Popular Science Magazine.