It is hoped the changing rules would encourage new businesses to build generating plants. These plants would sell power on the open market. As more of these independent plants came on line, electricity supplies would increase, and consumer prices would fall. The industry estimates that about 30,000 megawatts of additional power could be on line by 2010 if plant constructions that have been announced take place. However, few think that will happen.
Some states still set consumer rates below the actual cost to generate electricity.
This has scared some potential investors out of the business because they fear they might not recover their investment. Eugene Gorzelnik, a spokesman for the reliability council, says many announcements of plant constructions are just a testing of the waters. There always has been uncertainty, but deregulation increases the level of uncertainty. Power plants canceled That uncertainty makes planning difficult. The power pool made up of Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia could wind up short of power by the end of the decade.