It makes perfect that sense that in a deregulated market, competition will lead to lower prices and better customer service while the opposite would be true in a regulated market with just one provider. But I've lived in other states that have regulated electricity and the prices, reliability, and customer service weren't any different. I understand that not all markets are the same and it can be difficult to compare different states with different challenges, but I would prefer to not have to deal with shopping and changing companies every year IF all things are going to otherwise be equal (that's a big if).

I'm interested in hearing perspectives on whether or not deregulation has been effective, and if it hasn't, why?

what really makes Texas unique (most of Texas) is that our grid is separate from the rest of the country.

It has its own whole-selling market whereas other states or regions have interconnected ISOs.

Generally, power in unregulated areas is cheaper than say "co-ops" where you have 1 provider. That being said, even in unregulated markets, you're still forced to use one servicer of the actual lines (Oncor in North Texas).

They can move their costs up and you have no other choice.

The biggest issue contributing to unreliability and increased cost volatility is the continued growth of wind and solar in our power generation base. We need a reliable baseline generation capacity from reliable sources. If we want to move away from hydrocarbons, we should be pushing geothermal, nuclear, or other non-intermitten sources. Piling more reliance from sources that rely on good weather has not been good for Texas.

Bob Knights Paper Hands said:

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Piling more reliance from sources that rely on good weather has not been good for Texas.

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How so?

Becaise we have continued to decline in energy reliabiliry and have had more price volatility. Most people want the heat or AC to come on when they want it and don't want large spikes in pricing. Those are relatively new issues for Texans.

tlh3842 said:

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Bob Knights Paper Hands said:

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Piling more reliance from sources that rely on good weather has not been good for Texas.

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How so?

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Because solar doesn't work when the sun doesn't shine and wind doesn't when the wind don't blow.

I've done a good bit of work in the power generation space. To take advantage of the pricing volatility and intermittent supply, better Nat gas fire plants are coming online/development that are designed to be spun up within 15 minutes and run when peak power prices are hit and then shut off at other times.

Our grid, like Alberta Canada's is a spot market. Pricing changes every minute.

Other ISO's in America operate by selling capacity in auctions and other methods.

Ours is a "supply and demand" curve which is why many producers went under from Uri. They charged customers (us) a fixed rate (if you're smart enough to have a fixed rate contract) but buy power from the grid at spot rates.

Spot rates spiked to 1000% levels. Boom.

The market has already realized the grift and lie that renewables are, and a shift back to fire burning (albeit not coal burning 100% utilization plants) plants is happening.

Also, due to ESG grift, many power plants are being divested to get them out of large PE/institutional funds' portfolios.

I worked on a deal recently where Blackrock sold a plant to KKR. Blackrock didn't want a coal plant in their fleet for ESG, so they sold it at a discount to asset value, which is absolutely insane.

One of the touted benefits of retail deregulation was plan customization. You could get a unique plan that fit your needs, with pricing that matched your usage patterns.

Same with plan add-ons, like AC repair insurance or detailed billing.

But those seem to have fallen out of favor. I'm guessing most people just want a basic plan they don't have to think about?

ChoppinDs40 said:

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Generally, power in unregulated areas is cheaper than say "co-ops" where you have 1 provider. That being said, even in unregulated markets, you're still forced to use one servicer of the actual lines (Oncor in North Texas).

They can move their costs up and you have no other choice.

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Same with Centerpoint in Houston. Companies are willing to bet and hedge on making money brokering spot prices for electricity. No one sees value in managing aging infrastructure no one wants to pay to add to or maintain. So we're stuck with one company that is halfway regulated and has no competition. And the never ending cycle of people demanding they spend money without them raising their rates. So in years of few storms they are set to make big profits people want to regulate or require them to reinvest and in bad years with lots of storms they take huge losses people don't want to subsidize.

And everyone wonders why there's no competition.

Texas utilities aren't truly unregulated. Only the marketing companies are unregulated. It is literally putting lipstick on a pig.

Seven Costanza said:

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It makes perfect that sense that in a deregulated market, competition will lead to lower prices and better customer service while the opposite would be true in a regulated market with just one provider.

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As someone above said, it has only introduced competition in the form of middle men, all buying and selling the same product from the same supplier. I'm still convinced that the whole thing was a way to enrich politicians and their friends with funds that should have been used for growing / maintaining production and the grid. A power grid has several characteristics that make it a challenge for open markets (supply and demand must be balanced real time, poor price elasticity on the supply and demand sides, etc.).