In deregulation of electric markets, a consumer pinch

[ozymandius]

It's the slow season for the laundromat in tiny Milford, Pa., yet owner Darryl Wood has raised the price of a wash by 50 cents this year, to $2.50. The reason? Electric rates have more than doubled since January, threatening to close the lid on a business his family has run for decades.

"I've already seen an electric bill higher than anything that I've ever gotten," he says. "I thought deregulation would bring rates down. Now, I'm just hoping we can hang on."

His ordeal reflects the fresh dismay many consumers are feeling about the deregulation of the electric utility industry. When deregulation was implemented in the 1990s, supporters said it would drive rates down through competition.

But data so far suggest that rates in deregulated states are rising faster than those in regulated states. That trend could expand as caps on retail electric rates, which have held prices down, are lifted in at least six deregulated states this year.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0425/p02s01-usec.html

[ixion]

1. deregulation = an open door policy to strongarm the consumer

I've yet to see anything good come from deregulating public utilities.

[sendero]

2. Yet another Republican economics..

... pipe dream bites the dust. Can these idiots get anything right? Apparently not.