Unlike other utilities such as phone service and data, the electric industry is still very limited in terms of choice.
Competition and Deregulation
Although there are states around the country that have some form of competition, it is mostly the high energy users such as huge manufacturers that may have some level of choice.
Just as in the early years of the breakup of the telephone monopoly, the new players were only able to compete as resellers of the service. Since all the infrastructure was already in place, it was impossible for a new company to come along and install the vast networks needed to compete.
Resellers were given deep discounts in order to be able to make some margin and it possible for them to continue in business. So for example back in the 80's and early 90's there were businesses paying 30, 40 70 cents or higher per minute for phone calls.
So the new company would get a rate of 5 cents and charge 15 cents compared to 30 cents from the original carrier. The consumer or business owner would win, the new company could still make a profit and the original company made less money, but still in one form or another got revenue from that customer.
Let's face it, competition helps lower costs and requires efficiency to stay competitive. When AT&T had no competition, the rates were very high and went higher.
Once competition was introduced, they had to lower their prices and find cost savings within the company. They also diversified eventually into Mobile, DATA, and Satellite TV. AT&T as we all know is doing fine and better than ever.
While many players in the telephone business have come and gone, some are still around and some some moved on to build out their own networks. All during this time, there were many people who wished there was never a break up of the monopoly believe it or not.
Why? The level of competition got so high that businesses and consumers were driven crazy by the telemarketing calls and constant solicitation. In addition, some of the new carriers didn't always offer the best customer service.
The process of switching carriers was not always smooth and the savings was often not worth the hassle in the later years. Imagine a business that relies on their phones so heavily and suddenly the phone lines go down for an hour or a day or more.
Those were some of the issues a company could face switching. The bottom line is that in the long run, even with some bumps,competition is best for everyone involved.