It is everything in the electric utility business, where regulators essentially control company revenues and profit.

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Legislators and regulators have a long record of festooning electric bills with all manner of economic objectives, incentives, and social goals.

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In their quest to root out inefficiencies and to produce competitive markets, federal regulators sought in the 1990s to create open access to electric transmission lines, allowing any generator to send its power to prospective customers.

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California regulators voted to mandate major automakers substantially increase the numbers of electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell-powered models in their fleets in the coming years, eventually accounting for 15.4 percent of all vehicles sold in the state by 2025.

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Energy regulators are now grappling with how to ensure fair and open access to electric transmission lines.

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State laws usually require utility regulators to develop protocols for approving any meters or metering systems used to bill customers for electric service.

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The broad outline of the rate hike was approved by state regulators in March to help bail out the state's two largest utilities, Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison, who have been caught in a squeeze between escalating wholesale prices and the rates they can charge customers.

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"Because resource portfolio decisions have traditionally been made by the state regulators, states should be given flexibility as they attempt to ensure that renewable resources are appropriately utilized in providing retail electric service, " says a spokesman from the organization.

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