This book addresses the fundamental issues underlying the debate over electric power regulation and deregulation. After decades of the presumption that the electric power industry was a natural monopoly, recent times have seen a trend of deregulation followed by panicked re-regulation. This important book critically analyses this controversial area from a legal and economic perspective.
Introduction P.Z. Grossman and D.H. Cole 1. Is anything naturally a monopoly? P.Z. Grossman 2. The origins and development of electric power regulation R.L. Bradley, Jr 3. The Regulatory Contract D.H. Cole 4. The Zenith of the natural monopoly system P.Z. Grossman 5. Whither natural monopoly? J.P. Tomain 6. Universal service in competitive retail electric markets J. Rossi 7. Stranded benefits vs. stranded costs in utility deregulation R.W. Cearley and D.H. Cole 8. Why the music is off-key when lawyers sing from economists' songbooks or why public utility deregulation will fail A.P. Morriss 9. Does the end of a natural monopoly mean deregulation? P.Z. Grossman