[They consistently phrase things in such a way as to flatter deregulationists. But their bottom line argument seems to be that dereg can only work with a government run grid -- in other words, if it is considerably regged. Buried in here is a not bad illustration of how real markets depend on government in their innermost nature.]
it's the standard recipe: privatization of the profitable bits (generation) and socialization of the unprofitable (transmission), which subsidizes the former. BTW, the news reports are that an Ohio power company -- First Energy Corp. -- was the source of the Big Blackout. This suggests another problem with the "deregulation" plan pushed by Yergin and his pal: what if a company is losing out in market competition and thus cuts back on maintenance and safety and the like? (cf. the hole in the nuclear power plant roof in Ohio.) The company's debt is at near-junk status, encouraging onerous debt-service payments and such corner-cutting. It's as with airline deregulation, when some airlines cut back on maintenance (e.g.?, Alaska Airlines). Jim
