Prices, profits and mandatory rationing for Utility B are regulated by the PUC.
The declaration stops short of statewide mandatory rationing.
But despite this natural shock, the market held together, without mandatory rationing, blackouts, price manipulation, or major financial ruin of any of the players.
Mandatory rationing is an option if the declaration and other measures are insufficient.
This year, a severe drought has lowered water levels in the reservoirs used to generate electricity, and mandatory rationing was imposed in June.
News reports said the mandatory rationing was a first for the state.
No mandatory rationing has been ordered, but because conditions recently worsened, Inslee took the step to declare the statewide emergency.
While no mandatory rationing has been ordered, officials have set the stage to ask for federal assistance as the situation worsens.
For mandatory rationing, prior approval from the PUC is required.
Utility B managers did not agree with our Utility A interviewees that private companies were unlikely to implement mandatory rationing.
