As a result, it takes about two years to build a clean, efficient power plant in Texas, compared to six or seven years in California. A second key difference between Texas and California is the diversity of our power supply. Hydropower is great when it rains, but when it doesn't, the safety cushion evaporates. Here in Texas, we don't rely on intermittent resources. Finally, our focus in Texas is on implementing competition before deregulation.
Workable competition is a much better regulator than government.
But until there is sufficient supply of power and the wholesale market is working well, it doesn t help customers to deregulate a monopoly. Pennsylvania is one state that's doing it right by focusing on competition first. Customers there already are seeing savings of up to 15 percent on their monthly bills. Texans ability to shop and save is coming June 1. In the next few weeks, five percent of the retail customers of the state's investor-owned utilities can enroll in the Retail Choice Pilot Program.