Public power in the US electric utility industry: Regulatory issues and comparative financial indicators across ownership types

Abstract

By ownership type, the US electric utility industry consists of (1) investor-owned utilities, (2) rural electric cooperatives (distribution and power supply cooperatives), (3) Federal power projects (the Tennessee Valley Authority and five Federal power marketing agencies with their supply sources), and (4) state/municipal systems (state projects, county projects, public utility districts, municipally owned electric systems, and joint action agencies). In 1984, public power--defined as the latter three ownership types--accounted for 23.4 percent of total generating capacity and 24.0 percent of total end-use sales in the industry. The average price of end-use electricity across all customer classes obtained by investor-owned utilities in 1984 was 6.53 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), while the corresponding price for publicly owned systems was 5.28 cents/kWh. A number of operating and regulatory/legislative characteristics account for this difference in average price. The focus of this report is on regulatory/legislative differences. 39 refs., 4 figs., 29 tabs.