Electricity markets: States reassert authority over power generation

Utility Dive: Who decides which power plants we build?

It's a question as old as the electric utility industry and one that defines how the sector serves its customers. It's also at the center of high-stakes policy debates across the United States today.

In many states, deregulation of power generation was supposed to answer that question with one thing — the market. Instead of utility boards and state commissions deciding what to build, forces of supply and demand for electricity would dictate which plants would be sited and which would retire.

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