CFTC

Multiple layers of regulatory oversight protect our nation’s competitive electricity markets from systemic risks such as those that led to the recent financial market crisis. Much of the nation’s electric industry has undergone restructuring to promote competition and consumer benefits, but regulation and oversight at the federal and state levels are as strong as, or stronger, than they have ever been.
 

President Obama recently signed into law a landmark financial regulatory reform bill that has implications for every business in the country. Reforms involving financial derivatives trading, among other things, and how companies manage their risks, were the focus of the energy and manufacturing industries. The legislation’s effects on electricity suppliers and customers, and thereby infrastructure investments and electricity prices, gained particular attention with key legislators recognizing the need to maintain financial risk-hedging tools for electricity providers.