Dive Brief:

• The deregulation of the electricity industry has, in the past decade or so, delivered on its promise of lower wholesale power prices.
• The cost of generation accounts for less than half the retail price or electricity, according to the Edison Electric institute.
• However, retail power prices have climbed due to the investments utilities have made in the transmission and distribution grid. Those costs account for more than half of an average retail electricity bill.

Dive insight:

Without an aggressive second round of deregulation, power prices could continue to rise and drive buyers of power—from industrial to residential customers—to find ways to purchase less, further exacerbating challenges to the utility business model.