It was with the promise of better prices and choices that state lawmakers in 1999 adopted the Texas electric deregulation law.
Newly minted electric companies would compete for customers. In theory, market forces would keep a lid on bills. How has Texas fared since then? The Texas Coalition for Affordable Power this week releases its updated report, Deregulated Electricity in Texas: A Market Annual, which examines that question. The update includes new content, context and analysis. The report — an update of one originally released by TCAP in 2009 — incorporates findings from TCAP’s recent snapshot reports on electric pricing and complaints, as well as a new chapter on market developments during 2016. Deregulated Electricity in Texas also is presented as “A Market Annual” because it describes key electric market-related events in Texas, but organized chronologically in a year-by-year fashion. The report includes a preliminary section describing the period before to passage of SB 7 as well as 18 separate annual sections. TCAP is a nonprofit coalition of municipalities and other political subdivisions that purchase electricity in the deregulated market.