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Utility Deregulation Backfires in California, Nevada

In part three of a series on deregulation, NPR's Scott Horsley reports on how deregulated electrical utilities have increased the cost of powering the neon lights of the Las Vegas strip. Deregulation was supposed to reduce the cost of electricity, but in parts of Nevada and California, it's had the opposite effect. New power plants and transmission lines are expensive, and financial problems at some of the biggest utility companies have made it hard for them to raise the necessary capital.

Copyright 2003 NPR

Scott Horsley is NPR's Chief Economics Correspondent. He reports on ups and downs in the national economy as well as fault lines between booming and busting communities.

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