Frequently Asked Questions

What is electric deregulation?
Electric deregulation, also called restructuring or customer choice, involves “unbundling” or segmenting electric services into its three separate components:

Generation: the production of electricity at a generating station.

Transmission: moving electricity over high-voltage power lines (“the grid”) from a generating station to a distribution point.

Distribution: the delivery of electricity from a distribution point (substation) to individual consumers.

Why didn’t electric cooperatives participate in deregulation?
Legislators knew that electric cooperatives nature, purpose and goals varied greatly from investor-owned utilities. The law did not require cooperatives to opt into electric deregulation.

Electric cooperatives are not-for-profit companies that are owned by the consumers they serve – their members. As such, cooperatives have a primary goal of providing power at the lowest possible cost for their members. After carefully analyzing the situation, all 24 electric cooperatives in Ohio realized that deregulation offered their members no benefits, but would involve major costs.

Has deregulation resulted in lower electric bills?
For many large businesses, it has, but for the majority of residential consumers, it has not. Some residential consumers opted into a buying group through a community based aggregation program, which has saved them some on their electric bill. However, the majority of residential consumers in Ohio still have no options or choices for someone else to supply them with power.

What states in the U.S. have enacted electric deregulation?
The Energy Information Administration web site is a great place to visit to find the updated status of electric deregulation throughout the country. That website is
www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/chg_str/regmap.html.

Where do I find more information about electric deregulation in Ohio?
Visit the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s website for accurate, up-to-date information on the status of electric deregulation in Ohio. Their website is www.puco.ohio.gov/.

California was always in the news about deregulation a few years ago. What is happening in California now?
Visit the web site of the California Energy Commission to the latest information on California’s status. Their web site is http://www.energy.ca.gov/

For other energy information, including electric, visit the Ohio Consumer’s Council web site. They have numerous informative brochures, leaflets and fact sheets to provide you with the information you need. Their web site is www.pickocc.org/publications/.