Deregulation has taken place in California, Pennsylvania and Alberta and will happen in Texas and Ontario in 2002. The idea has merit: open the market to competition, which should result in new capaci…
Deregulation has taken place in California, Pennsylvania and Alberta and will happen in Texas and Ontario in 2002. The idea has merit: open the market to competition, which should result in new capacity and lower prices to businesses and consumers.
But unless it is done properly with foresight, disastrous consequences can result, as the case in California has shown. Consumers and businesses were faced with price gouging last winter, and then rolling blackouts this spring. For the most part, the situation has stabilized in the Golden State, but what happened in California is a sober reminder that deregulation takes careful planning. “California has been a good lesson in what not to do,” Norgren of Weyerhaeuser says.
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