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Democratic control of public enterprise in the United States: a history of regulation and liberalisation in the electricity sector

Author

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  • Jerrold Oppenheim

    (for more than 30 years legal counsel and advisor for state governments, consumer organisations, labour unions, environmental interests, industrial customers, and utilities.)

  • Theo MacGregor

    (formerly director of the Electric Power Division of the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy (DTE), the state's utility regulator; currently head of MacGregor Energy Consultancy.)

Abstract

The system of democratic regulation of privately owned utilities that has evolved in the United States over the past century includes five main elements: participation; transparency; a standard of justice and reasonableness; protection against confiscation of utility assets; and prices that are related to costs. After setting these elements forth and explaining how they are balanced, we describe how the system failed in a series of relatively small but highly visible experiments with deregulation in California and elsewhere in the US. Finally, we outline the history of how democratic regulation evolved in the US and how democracy is reversing the failed experiment with deregulation in California.

Suggested Citation

  • Jerrold Oppenheim & Theo MacGregor, 2002. "Democratic control of public enterprise in the United States: a history of regulation and liberalisation in the electricity sector," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 8(2), pages 262-278, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:8:y:2002:i:2:p:262-278
    DOI: 10.1177/102425890200800210
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