However, there are several reasons that renewables may finalIy earn their day in the sun. One is the rising concern over the global climate change, which has spurred the interest of environmental organizations and the foundations that fund them. Another is the restructuring of the electric utility industry. A growing number of states are dismantling the monopolies that have controlled the entire process of electricity generation and distribution, and Congress is contemplating national restructuring legislation. Large industrial customers tout the lower energy prices they say will result from opening up the market to competition.
Environmentalists see opportunities, perils and problems in the rush to deregulate.
However, consumers can sign up to pay their bills to companies that generate their electricity from renewable sources. In California, the municipal governments of San Diego, Santa Monica and San Jose, as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers, have opted for green power. But environmentalists are quick to point out the limits of green consumerism. First, utilities are insisting that ratepayers bail them out for billions of dollars invested in nuclear boondoggles that would otherwise die a quick death in a competitive market. Furthermore, since California's markets opened up in 1998, only 1 percent of the state's consumers have chosen green energy-and that's with a subsidy scheduled to end in 2001.