The process of deregulating the various components of the electricity industry is in its fourth year. Some states have deregulated while others have not.
Experts say the process has been plagued by confusion.
Moreover, the U.S. is running short of electricity. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson is warning of brownouts and outages this summer. The U.S. has generating plants capable of cranking out 780,000 megawatts of electricity on a summer's day. But it will take a minimum of 700,000 megawatts to power the nation this summer, according to the Department of Energy. For decades, giant manufacturing companies have assured themselves of guaranteed supplies of electricity by building their own generators and substations.