by Jennifer Taylor, June 2007

• Introduction
• Deregulation—An overview of the issue
• Deregulation—today’s concerns
• Deregulation and electric cooperatives
• North Carolina & Electric Utility Restructuring
• Download the full article as a

The North Carolina General Assembly in April 1997 formed the Study Commission on the Future of Electric Service in North Carolina to consider issues surrounding retail competition in the electric utility industry. The commission met several times and heard comments from industry and consumer groups. In April 2000, the panel recommended full competitive retail electric service in the state by 2006, with a phase-in beginning in 2005. Issues that remained unresolved—debt held by municipal power providers, consumer protection, environmental and alternative energy effects, taxes, transmission and distribution service—were to be addressed as the process unfolded.

As deregulation in California stumbled in 2000, North Carolina like other states put the process on hold. The state’s municipal power providers, who had been proponents of retail competition, reversed their position and joined the call for caution.

To date, no legislation has been introduced to implement the recommendations of the commission, but policymakers and industry officials have addressed related issues that arose during the study.