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34. Houston, "The Case for Deregulating Electric Transmis-

sion," p. 6.

35. Douglas Houston, "Toward Resolving the Access Issue:

User Ownership of Electric Transmission Grids," Reason Foun-

dation Policy Insight no. 129, August 1991, p. 16.

36. Microgeneration is generally considered to encompass

those units below one megawatt in size designed to provide

power for a single structure.

37. See Stuart Brown, "Here Come the Pint-Size Power

Plants," Fortune, April 29, 1996, p. 64C.  Microgenerators

are not yet economical.  Capital costs are currently $1,000

per kilowatt of capacity.  According to the Electric Power

Research Institute, reliable, low-maintenance commercial

applications could be available for under $300 per kW within

three to five years.  Preston and Rastler, p. 15.  At $300

per kW, a 24-kW microturbine, large enough to power a cen-

tral air-conditioning system for a large house, would cost

$7,200.

38. Thomas Casten, "Thinking about Energy," Presentation to

New England-Canada Business Council, November 8, 1996, p. 4.

39. Thomas Casten, "Electricity Generation: Smaller Is

Better," Electricity Journal, December 1995, p. 65.

40. Colin Besant, "Gas Turbines in Your Home?" Electricity

Daily, September 9, 1996, p. 2.

41. See, for example, George Preston and Dan Rastler, "Dis-

tributed Generation: Competitive Threat or Opportunity?"

Public Utilities Fortnightly, August 1996, pp. 13-17; and

Joseph Schuler Jr., "Generation: Big or Small?" Public

Utilities Fortnightly, September 15, 1996, p. 31.  Though

multipurpose microgenerators are not yet characterized by

the "zero maintenance" often found in household appliances,

entrepreneurs who furnish that ease of use will surely make

large profits.  Skepticism about the use of microturbine

technology flows not from an analysis of the costs and

benefits of the turbines themselves but from lack of incen-

tive to adopt them until the franchise monopolies are elimi-

nated.  For differing views on the likelihood of adoption,

see David Pescovitz, "Reality Check: The Future of Electric-

ity," Wired, October 1996, p. 80.