As states target utilities' return on equity, the article highlights a competitive auction approach as "the structural and political solution" — replacing administratively-set ROEs with a supply-and-demand cost of equity that would fundamentally change utility incentive structures.

Makes the case for New York's FAIR Act — legislation that would replace the Commission-set utility profit rate with a market-determined return on equity — as a direct path to lower electric bills for New York ratepayers.

Joined by state lawmakers and the Public Advocate, Governor Matt Meyer urged the Public Service Commission to consider a competitive determination of utility profits in place of Delmarva's guaranteed, nearly 10% return.

The piece spotlights HB 2224, which would replace utilities' commission-set returns with a formula-based ROE tied to the true market cost of capital — a change that would push utility profits down and ease the rate increases driving up Pennsylvanians' bills.

Surging power demand from artificial intelligence and data centers is straining the grid and driving up utility bills — raising new urgency around how regulators set utility profit rates.

Rep. Fiedler plans to introduce legislation setting a default formula-based return on equity for utilities, with a competitive equity auction as a fallback if utilities reject it.

With Shapiro, Pritzker, and Moore all eyed as 2028 contenders, utility affordability is emerging as a defining presidential issue. The editorial argues that Shapiro's challenge to Exelon and PECO exposes the structural flaw in utility regulation — and asks whether other governors will follow his lead.

Pennsylvania's governor and state legislators take aim at rising utility rates, spotlighting the need for reforms to how utility companies set their profits.

Governor Shapiro sets explicit standards utilities must meet to justify rate increases, escalating state-level pressure on utility pricing practices.

New York ratepayers are overpaying for electricity because utility equity returns are set by regulatory proceeding rather than by markets. A market-based fix is within reach.

A competitive auction mechanism for setting utility equity returns could bring market discipline to an industry that has escaped it for decades.

Despite a nationwide affordability crisis, investor-owned utilities continue to collect billions in profits above their true cost of capital — at ratepayers' expense.

As electricity costs climb across the country, state policymakers are examining new approaches to utility regulation — including competitive mechanisms to set the authorized return on equity.

An in-depth investigation into why American utility bills keep climbing — and the structural forces that keep regulators from pushing back effectively against utility profits.

Regulatory capture is at the root of the affordability crisis in electricity. A deep look at how state utility commissions have allowed investor-owned utilities to extract excess profits from ratepayers for decades.

A market-based mechanism for setting utility equity returns could dramatically reduce the excess profits flowing from ratepayers to utility shareholders — and bring power prices back in line with costs.

Mark Ellis, former Chief Economist at Sempra, explains why utility regulatory proceedings systematically produce returns above the market cost of capital — and what a competitive alternative would look like.

California ratepayers overpay PG&E by hundreds of millions annually because regulators estimate equity costs rather than letting markets determine them.