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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Updated: 10/01/05    Source: EC Power
CA Electric Restructuring
Beginning March 31, 1998, many of California's electricity consumers were allowed to make choices when they purchased their electricity. The decades-old structure of area-specific monopolies for electricity was changed under what is called "restructuring" or deregulation.

Begun by the California Public Utilities Commission in 1992, the course electricity deregulation took was directed by legislation, mainly Assembly Bill 1890 and Senate Bill 90. Because of flaws in the deregulation process, the California Public Utilities Commission suspended direct access in September 2001.

Other problems, too numerous to explain here, also occurred. Many periodicals and books have examined and analyzed what went wrong with the state deregulation efforts. We'd recommend investigating those books and magazines at your local public or school library.

CA Gas Choice
California gas industry restructuring began in 1988, when the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued the first of many rate design changes in an effort to open the natural gas market to competition. The first change separated the California gas market into core and noncore customer segments, depending on the customer's load, end-use priority, and economic ability to use alternative fuels.

The noncore customers were provided with the ability to elect natural gas service from a Gas Service Provider (GSP) instead of the utility. The utility still provides these customers with the transportation of the gas across its distribution system to the customer's meter. In 1991 additional rate design changes were implemented. One of those changes gives core customers the ability to elect commodity services from GSPs through a core aggregation transportation (CAT) program. Other significant changes have been implemented which opened interstate pipeline capacity and gas storage services to competition.

The road to gas industry restructuring has not reached its end. We anticipate continued rate design changes to occur in order for the CPUC to reach its ultimate goal of providing all gas customers with a greater competitive gas marketplace.

If you should encounter any problems or need further information, please call (713) 356-0060.
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