This paper is on deregulation and its problems. As a result of deregulation, fundamental changes have occurred and are continuing to occur in the electric generation industry. These changes affect the business environment for generating facilities and consequently affect the value of generating facilities. The tide of electric utility deregulation has been rising for some time, floating the current armada of regulated utility restructurings, market structure changes, and generator asset sales. Much of the current change for the electric industry can be traced back to the energy crisis of the 1970's, but also occurs in the context of deregulation of other major industries, including the airlines, telecommunications, and the natural gas industries. The electric industry, with hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues and assets, is one of the largest industries to be deregulated.
