Only a short time ago, energy consumers in New York were forced
to accept one level of service and one price, but they now have
the freedom to exercise their choice. After New York energy
deregulation, consumers were given a choice to seek out the best
electricity and gas services at affordable rates out of the many
available in the market. Below is a brief history of how New
York became deregulated. History of energy deregulation
Traditionally, electricity in New York was supplied by local
monopolies that possessed the power plants as well as the
transmission lines for power distribution. In exchange of
allowing these corporations to exercise monopoly on the
consumers, the state heavily regulated these companies and set
up rate of return of profit for the utilities, depending on the
cost of service, and planned for upcoming power needs. After
deregulation, these monopolies at the state level were broken,
and the utilities’ power plants were either sold to a third
party or transferred to an unregulated partne