Future of Utilities - Utilities of the Future

Foreword

For over a century the electric utility business was mostly stable, predictable, and, at times, dull. Not surprisingly, the business of regulating utilities was also stable, predictable and, for the most part, equally dull.

Utility executives had to make sure that the lights stayed on, most of the time, and that investors were reasonably rewarded. Regulators had to make sure prices were just and reasonable while keeping utilities reasonably profitable.

The utility business model—nobody called it that in the old days—was predicated on two time-tested principles: predictable sales growth and flat or falling per unit prices. Regulators set and periodically adjusted the cents per kilowatt-hour multiplier, which was applied to kilowatt-hour ...