Public Utilities Reports  PUR Guide 2012 Fully Updated Version
Available NOW! PUR Guide   Order Now  Power Procurement: What's
in Your Mix?  Why competitive markets are scaring regulators.
Fortnightly Magazine - November 2006  Despite significant
differences in how electricity is procured across the country,
the objective often is the same. Regardless of whether the
region has implemented retail competition or is subject to
traditional regulation, the intention of the regulatory
framework is to minimize the amount consumers spend on
electricity. Industry observers, however, have begun to ask
whether states that have introduced retail competition face
demonstrably lower or higher electricity prices than those
states that rely on a more classical, vertically integrated
regulatory framework.  The answer largely is a function of the
competitiveness of the wholesale electricity markets, as opposed
to the specifics of how different states regulate their natural
monopoly transmission and distribution companies. If