Are electric utilities aboard the 'train to Ithaca'?

Increasing competition for electric utilities, including distributed generation in the form of renewables, such as wind and solar has given rise to a paradigm shift in the industry that poses complex questions. How should the carrier-of-last resort obligation be administered? What form of price restructuring is required? The telecommunications industry traversed a similar path. The lessons from that experience suggest that regulation changes markedly slower than technology. This inertia poses a considerable risk for the utilities.