I recall an attempt to control the energy monopolies that were vertically integrated. That is, some energy companies were essentially monopolies due to the fact that they produced the energy, transported it and delivered it to the end user. Natural gas and electricity are especially predisposed to this because there is only one gas pipeline or electrical power line from a distribution point to an individual house or business.
The delivery system is a "natural monopoly" because it is too expensive to have multiple power lines or gas pipelines going down the street to each user. With a vertically integrated energy provider, there is no incentive to compete on price because ithe customer s locked into whoever owns that last mile of the delivery system.
Deregulating the energy system by requiring the owner of the last mile to either divest themselves of the energy production or allowing other producers access to the bulk delivery system, allows a customer to buy their power from a cheaper producer, or "green producer', or a producer that is more "socially responsible" in the eyes of the end user.
This should have no impact on the responsibility for the other parts to meet safety and environmental mandates. A regulated monopoly is guaranteed a profit based on their justified costs of business at the expense of their loss of freedom to set prices to their benefit. If they need to remove brush and trees in the path of their power lines, that is an allowable expense that they can recover in the price of electricity.
Burying the power lines would also be an allowable expense to recover. There may, however, be other government mandates to not cut trees or remove brush for environmental or aesthetic reasons. Blaming the power company is easy but it will likely take court cases to resolve the responsibility issue. Remember that one can't sue the government without standing or, perhaps, its permission to be sued.
You are right. This is not a simple problem to resolve and there are many entities eager to point fingers away from themselves.
Paul
