Electricity Rates Rising in Illinois

I missed this report; some details

JAMES CLAYBORNE, State Senator: The whole purpose of deregulating is to create more competition and create more choice, in terms of suppliers coming into the residential market, as well as industry, creating industry where they will -- they do nothing but produce power. And as a result, that should cause rates to go down, should cause more competition.

But because we kept the rates low for so long, that the competition was never generated. So if we extend the rate freeze, then what happens at the end of the rate freeze? There's still no competition.

That sounds like a no-brainer to me, but I've never heard it before.

Economist Lynn Kiesling says, because of the freeze, true deregulation has not been allowed to happen in Illinois yet, which is why prices are so high. The only way to get prices down, she says, is to enable competitors to emerge.

LYNNE KIESLING: My vision of the future for electric power would be to have a variety of competing retailers offering differentiated products and services to residential, commercial and industrial consumers, so that customers have a lot of retail choice, and are empowered to choose, and to take control of and manage their own energy use.