If anyone is wondering what regulation capture by industry interests looks like, this is it:

A Life in Energy and (Therefore) Politics (wsj)

The energy industry is mired with so many competing regulatory and industry interests that calling it an "energy market" is a complete misnomer. Note the intriguing comments made later on in the article about some "dirty: coal plants being used as bargaining chips by companies against state and local politicians who, having granted monopolies, are now beholden to those companies.

It's a real fine mess.