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Electric Deregulation News

There Is No Deregulation Activity in Florida at This Point in Time

Deregulation of the electric industry is currently at a standstill in Florida— nevertheless, it is still being actively pursued in other states. Although it probably will not occur in Florida any time soon, it is still considered by many experts to be eventually inevitable. The concept behind deregulation is customer choice in the selection of an electric provider.

If and when deregulation does occur, each of the following three components of the industry would have to be addressed:

• Transmission: Eventually, the planning and operation of transmission grid systems would be controlled through regional transmission organizations, in which individual utilities would participate. Transmission has already been re-regulated in the state of Florida to allow open access. Currently, transmission systems are privately owned, operated, and maintained.
• Wholesale Power: With the exception of a provision for merchant plants in Florida, wholesale power has already been deregulated. Currently, wholesale power can be sold from one utility to another. Eventually, merchant plants, which are private generating facilities that are not tied to any specific territory or customers, would be allowed to sell energy on the wholesale market. For the most part, they would sell to electric providers for resale to retail customers. Merchant plants would provide additional power and decrease prices for retail customers. GRU supports the addition of merchant plants because it benefits the community and the state by providing plentiful power.
• Retail: In May 2000, Governor Bush created the Energy 2020 Commission to study the best way to meet power demands in Florida. The Energy 2020 Commission has decided to postpone retail deregulation until the bugs have been worked out in the deregulation of transmission and wholesale power. Should that happen, customers would be able to choose their electric provider just like they can choose their long distance provider.

Deregulation and GRU

GRU will provide continuous reliable electric service regardless of the status of deregulation in Florida.