Same Electricity. Different Rules.
Some of us (points to self) may not have paid close enough attention when certain subjects were covered in school. As a result, I was older than I would care to admit before I fully appreciated that the lawmaking process famously described by the Bill in the Schoolhouse Rock cartoon was the federal process, and that each of the 50 states has its own separate, independent process for making laws. In other words, it took me until adulthood to realize that all the laws in all the states are not the same. And it took working for a national organization to truly understand what is legislated at the federal level and what is legislated or regulated at the state level.
I don’t think I’m alone in this. Not to toss him under the bus, but even my husband, who taught 8th Grade History and whom I think of as knowing how our legal system works, was confused the first time I mentioned a regulatory docket.
[Author’s note: If you’re like my husband and don’t know what that means, think of a docket as a “case file” for a regulatory proceeding—the formal process a state agency uses to turn a law into the rules, tariffs, and programs for putting that law into practice.]
I might not have started paying such close attention to these things if I hadn’t begun working on the energy transition back in 2006. But I did. This piece isn’t a lecture about why you should follow every proceeding. I'll be honest, I don't either. It’s simply meant to help non–energy wonks understand that, because of how our system works, energy markets and the choices available to consumers differ from state to state. And that matters. It affects your options. It affects affordability. It affects how we keep energy secure and reliable.
Here’s one example. I live in Rhode Island. Retail electric choice exists here, which means I can stay with the utility for my electricity supply or switch to a competitive supplier offering a fixed rate or a higher renewable mix. I can also join a community aggregation program. And there are multiple pathways to add solar or battery storage to my home. Each option has different economics, but at least I have options. I get to decide which math works for me.
Now imagine I lived in Georgia instead. There is no retail electricity choice for residential customers. You take supply from the utility you’re assigned to. There’s no shopping around, no switching, and no renewable energy supply product unless the utility offers one. Same country. Same electricity. Completely different rulebook.
These differences can also influence affordability. For over a decade, I worked for a national trade association whose members included clean energy developers and service providers. Many of these companies want to be able to offer their products to any customer in any state. They can’t. If they could offer the same products and services in the same way across all 50 states, they could scale more efficiently. At least in theory, that scalability could help bring costs down. But again, the rules are different across every state line.
Not every solution is right for every state, and lack of consistency isn’t the only factor influencing affordability. But if we want to help customers make informed decisions about their energy use, then having some degree of consistency (or at least understanding that it doesn’t exist) is important.
So if you’ve ever wondered why a friend in another state has more or fewer energy options than you do, it’s not because the technology is different. It’s because the rules are.
You don’t have to become an energy policy expert. I am not one either. But recognizing that your state makes choices, and that those choices shape your choices, is a powerful first step. The energy transition isn’t happening in the abstract. It’s happening in our homes and under rules written close to home, which is why it matters who represents you in the legislature and whether they support policies that give you more choice.
We all deserve choices in our energy future. Make sure your legislators are working for yours.