The Ferc's Policy on Electric Mergers : A Bit of Perspective

With the Merger Policy Statement from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the last obstacle to movement toward deregulation in the electric utility industry, which began as far back as 1973, seemed to dissolve. Following the pattern from other regulated industries such as airlines, railroads, telecommunications, and banking, the Merger Policy Statement encouraged consolidation among electric utilities to counter the increased risk of bankruptcy brought by increased deregulation. Consolidation, while often viewed as stifling competition, is the natural reaction from a utility company dealing with an industry with new risks brought on by the bedeviling risk of deregulation. Yet, as played out in other industries, especially the airlines and railroads, the end result is an entire industry consolidated in only a handful of powerful companies