Legislative leaders contend the plan is not controversial. Tomblin said the PSC will have to educate the Legislature and the public. House Speaker Bob Kiss, D-Raleigh, said he believes the plan has the support in his chamber to pass. The plan to restructure electric utilities resembles changes already applied to the once-heavily regulated telephone industry. Under the plan, competition will be introduced in the generation of electricity, while transmission and distribution will continue to be regulated by the Public Service Commission.
Customers can pick which company supplies their electricity.
The power will move through existing transmission and distribution systems. Utilities in some states, like California, already are competing on the basis of who offers the most environmentally acceptable electricity. Even if a majority of West Virginians continue to support coal-fired generation, only about half of the coal produced in West Virginia goes to electric plants in this state. Also, about 70 percent of all the electricity generated here is shipped to other states. According to the federal government's Energy Information Administration, the system already provides West Virginians with some of the lowest electric rates in the nation.