Depolarizing the debate: Can retail wheeling co-exist with integrated resource planning?

Antagonists in the retail wheeling debate share a disgruntlement with the present industry structure and a desire to rely more on competition to achieve savings and efficiencies. But the critical question—is retail electric service a natural monopoly?—must be answered in the negative if retail competition is to be efficient. Only then should we go on to examine how such a regime might be structured.