Twenty-four other states are deregulating their power utilities, and all are encountering problems with implementation. California provides a preview of a crisis soon to be repeated elsewhere. Critics no doubt will continue to identify imperfections, but none can point to a state or country that has done so well in replacing its aging electric monopolies with something much more promising. But now government officials worry aloud that deregulation was a solution for an economy that has been passed by. Deregulation of banks and airlines has created difficult systems for consumers, but electrical power regulation is an unprecedented disaster.
Electricity is too vital to be surrendered to the caprice of the marketplace.