The ability to transmit energy from market to market is keeping prices for customers lower than they would otherwise be, and resulting in less wasted power, i.e. fewer natural resources used up to make electricity.

That this creates new reliability problems is, unfortunately, true.

One problem you have with trying to use market forces is that ideally, in a world where energy sources are becoming fewer and pollution is becoming more of an issue, the cost of energy should be rising. The rising costs feed back into more efficient usage and an incentive to come up with more production.

However, the average citizen views low electric bills as some sort of Constitutional right, and governments (like California's) place rigid controls on to keep them that way. This is why you're not going to see real changes in the system until you let the power become expensive. Good luck to the poor politician who suggests it.

People started driving efficient cars when gas prices were deregulated, and not before.