Break up, force out, slim down. [Electric utility industry structure and future]

Despite wrenching changes to other regulated industries, the electric utility industry's structure has remained more or less stable since the large holding companies were broken up 60 years ago. Indeed, the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) of 1935 limited utility investments outside their individual service areas. The electric utility industry is still composed of a large number of small utility companies that plan for and provide vertically integrated monopoly electric services. There are several emerging trends in this setting. This article makes seven predictions of what the electric utility industry will look like in the future. These predictions cover retail wheeling, generation, transmission access, competition, etc.