Steve Isser is President at Energy Law and Economics, Inc. His work has been published in Mathematical Modeling, the Review of Policy Research, and Public Utility Fortnightly, as well as two books on oil economics and politics.

Introduction; 1. The regulated electricity industry; 2. The EPA steps in; 3. The rise and fall of demand side management; 4. Congress acts, investors react; 5. The economists are coming, the economists are coming; 6. The Energy Policy Act of 1992; 7. Jump into the power pool; 8. What hath FERC wrought?; 9. Reorganization on the eve of deregulation; 10. The emergence of independent power producers; 11. The politics of electricity deregulation; 12. The creation of wholesale electricity markets; 13. Pushing markets - order 2000; 14. Great expectations; 15. Darkness, darkness; 16. California and market power; 17. FERC and market power in California; 18. Two steps forward, one step back; 19. The FERC cracks the whip; 20. The Energy Policy Act of 2005; 21. Wired; 22. Playing the piper; 23. Leave the lights on; 24. How much is too much?; 25. From small things big things one day come; 26. Blinded by the light; Conclusion.