TISO wins prize for expanding its payroll.
Utility competition was guaranteed to drive costs and rates down, giving a break to consumers. That much was certain. That's why state policymakers were so eager to jump on the bandwagon for deregulation.
Of course, only a portion of what the customer pays for electricity covers the direct cost of the product. Another chunk goes to pay the salaries of the people behind the scenes. But not to worry, since each deregulation of a formerly regulated U.S. industry (banking, railroads, airlines, trucking, telecommunications-you name it) served to tighten payrolls, making each business leaner and meaner. This, too, we know to be true.
Yet, back in the electric industry, where utilities are consolidating transmission line operations among a smaller universe of regional independent system operators (ISOs), the facts seem a bit inconvenient.
ISOs payrolls are growing—at a faster rate, it seems, than utility payrolls are shrinking.
IN THE NORTHEAST, SOME 300 PEOPLE STAFF THE OPERATIONS OF ISO NEW ENGLAND, and the number is growing.