Spotlight: Opening of Electricity Market Expected in March

Officials are confident they won’t need a second delay to open California’s $20-billion electricity market to competition at the retail level. Last year, computer problems forced a three-month postponement of a planned Jan. 1 start. The new start date is March 31. With bugs worked out, technicians are preparing a test run to simulate the movement and pricing of power on the state’s electricity grid, according to the Independent System Operator, which manages the grid.