Competitive power markets have delivered. Abandoning them would be a mistake.

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Nora Mead Brownell is cofounder of ESPY Energy Solutions​. She served on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from 2001 to 2006 and was a commissioner for the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission from 1997 to 2001. She has served on numerous corporate boards.

A recent Utility Dive op-ed on electricity rate increases correctly observes that the story behind rising power bills is more complicated than a single culprit like data centers. Regional differences matter. Policy choices matter. Market structures matter.

But the conclusion it gestures toward — that moving away from organized markets toward vertically integrated utility models is the solution — misdiagnoses the problem and risks reversing decades of progress in delivering reliable, affordable power through competition.

As someone who has spent a career working at the intersection of markets and regulation, including service on the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, I have seen firsthand what competitive wholesale electricity markets can achieve when they are allowed to function properly.