First, as competition in the sector increases, the efficiency and performance of the companies improves. Second, the divestiture of public energy assets provides a valuable source of money to the US government, which currently instead gives huge subsidies to government-owned coops. Privatizing the industry also makes environmental sense. PMAs also waste taxpayers' money by selling the energy produced at below-cost prices. A slightly higher electricity bill would lead companies to seek ways to consume energy at a lower rate.
Decreased consumption is environmentally more sound than the current system, which encourages waste.
Deregulating public electricity utilities is a recipe for disaster, and California proves it. And deregulated utilities have very little reason to increase generation in areas where there are not enough buyers or sellers. In those areas, strong federal regulation will be necessary, particularly as the price of energy continues to increase over the next decade. PMAs currently are an important source of income for the government. Businesses were major supporters of the landmark 1996 legislation deregulating California's electricity industry.