AARP Model Statute for Consumer Protection in Electric Industry Restructuring

By Nancy Brockway and Jerrold Oppenheim. For states restructuring their electricity industry, this model provides a guide to consumer protections that must be incorporated in any restructuring statute and regulations. More fully explained in the AARP Handbook. Please use this with caution -- while most of the suggestions remain useful whether or not a state is restructuring its electricity industry, some are out of date. For example, the wisdom of the divestiture option has been disproven by events and states that have enacted divestiture now need rules for power acquisition (see POLR section of this web site). Note also that this Model was written on the now-outdated assumption that enactment of retail competition is unavoidable. However, most of the suggestions remain useful in both restructured and conventional states, For example: "Cap The Gap," consumer protections, and low-income rates and protections.