When it arrives, as it inevitably will, this hyper-wired commodities market will save every homeowner hundreds of dollars a year. At Wal-Mart the electronic networks run from the company's largest suppliers right down to the chain's individual cash registers, coordinating a vast flow of material goods with superb efficiency. No one ever told Sam Walton he could sell spark plugs but not computer services, so he effectively sold both and saved consumers billions. Some telecom and power companies are already forming alliances. Utility regulators oversee neat little regulatory townships and segregate them strictly according to their traditional functions.
Power companies provide power.
Phone companies carry voice. Rivals can often intervene to block deployment of facilities or restrict the service provided. Price regulation all around sharply depresses the incentives of each individual utility to slash costs and discover new, cross-industry synergies. A phone company that invests billions to wire up air conditioners will not get to pocket any large share of the savings on electric bills. If it does and the system works perfectly, regulators will funnel the savings to rate payers.