Shell and a dozen other companies can begin competing for up to five percent of the residential, commercial, and industrial customers once the pilot program is underway. Shell is promising the first person to sign with them a free year of electricity. Meanwhile, the New Power Company is waiting to accept customers until the Texas Public Utility Commission settles some technicalities with the deregulation law. Business customers can expect to receive information on the pilot program in this month's bill, and residential customers will receive an insert next month. The pilot program will allow for computer systems to be tested and minor snags to be worked out of the law.
Nobody is that naive.
Full competition is to begin in Texas on January 1, 2002. After two and a half hours of discussion, the House Corporations, Insurance and Banking Committee passed a measure 20-5 that would amend Virginia's 1999 deregulation law. The bill would allow the State Corporation Commission to continue to regulate power plants if it is proven to be in the best interest of consumers. In order to separate, utilities have proposed establishing non-regulated affiliated companies to prevent giving their own generation facilities preferential treatment over those of competitors. Once transferred, the plants would then fall under Federal jurisdiction.