Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2005

Contact: Angie Joe
713.743.8153 (office)
713.617.7138 (pager)
ajoe@uh.edu

When Texas lawmakers deregulated electricity in 1999, the intent was to lower electric bills and to open the market to new products and services. But has it really worked out that way?

During a University of Houston Global Energy Management (UH-GEMI) conference, experts will measure just how much progress has been made. The “Is Deregulation Good for the Consumer?” conference will be held June 14 at the University Hilton Hotel.

Panelists include electricity suppliers and marketers; industrial, commercial and residential consumers; regulators and academics. They’ll give their views on what’s gone right, what hasn’t, and what should be changed to make deregulation work better in the future. Keynote speakers are C. John Wilder, chairman and CEO of TXU Corp., and Paul Hudson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

“Texas is still in the process of moving toward a fully deregulated system,” said Craig Pirrong, UH-GEMI energy markets director. “The conference is a mid-course report on the progress we’ve made.”

The market will be fully deregulated in 2007, when the “price to beat” rates are phased out. The rates, set by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, are a benchmark for customers shopping for electricity providers.

For an agenda or to register, go to https://www.bauer.uh.edu/gemi/new/power.htm. General admission is $99. Government employees with valid identification will receive a 50 percent discount.

To learn more about UH-GEMI, go to http://www.bauer.uh.edu/gemi/.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.