Regional Rural Development and Energy Reform: The Case of Electric Deregulation in Montana and Alberta

Abstract

Neo-liberal energy reform has resulted in a restructuring of the electricity industry and increased the globalization of energy markets and firms. To date, policy analysts have focused primarily on the national impacts of energy reform. The impact of energy reform on international, transborder regions, especially rural regions, generally has not been addressed. Here, a case study of electric deregulation policy in the Northern Rocky Mountain region of the United States and Canada demonstrates that energy policy reform has produced changes in electricity supplies to rural consumers that challenge regional industry and community sustainability. As a result of electric deregulation impacts, both public and private utilities in the region are in the process of reinstitutionalization following the transformation of energy markets, and the capacity to maximize the region's energy resources for local versus national development has weakened.