The Energy Policy Act of 1992- A Watershed for Competition in the Wholesale Power Market

Recent trends in the electricity generation market have spawned interest in substituting competition for traditional regulatory controls. To this end, Congress adopted regulatory reforms in the Energy Policy Act of 1992 aimed at stimulating competition in electricity generation. Most notably, the new legislation authorizes federal regulators to open transmission lines to competing generators of electric power. In addition, the Act frees a class of wholesale power generators from burdensome holding company regulation.I n this Article, Messrs. Watkiss and Smith analyze the procompetitive reforms in the 1992 Act, and attempt to predict their impact on the electric utility industry. In the short run, at least, the Act will foster greater competition among power generators. The Act, however, leaves many critical decisions to federal and state regulators; their decisions on how to implement the new law will determine whether a vigorously competitive wholesale power market develops as Congress intende