Sec. 1. The Indiana general assembly hereby declares the following:

(1) That the provision of safe, adequate, efficient, and economical retail energy services is a continuing goal of the commission in the exercise of its jurisdiction.

(2) That competition is increasing in the provision of energy services in Indiana and the United States.

(3) That traditional commission regulatory policies and practices, and certain existing statutes are not adequately designed to deal with an increasingly competitive environment for energy services and that alternatives to traditional regulatory policies and practices may be less costly.

(4) That an environment in which Indiana consumers will have available state-of-the-art energy services at economical and reasonable costs will be furthered by flexibility in the regulation of energy services.

(5) That flexibility in the regulation of energy services providers is essential to the well-being of the state, its economy, and its citizens.

(6) That the public interest requires the commission to be authorized to issue orders and to formulate and adopt rules and policies that will permit the commission in the exercise of its expertise to flexibly regulate and control the provision of energy services to the public in an increasingly competitive environment, giving due regard to the interests of consumers and the public, and to the continued availability of safe, adequate, efficient, and economical energy service.

As added by P.L.108-1995, SEC.3.