The Legislature hereby finds and declares that in order to promote the more rapid development of new sources of natural gas and electric energy, to maintain the economic vitality of the state through the continuing production of goods and the employment of its people, and to promote the efficient utilization and distribution of energy, it is desirable and necessary to encourage private energy producers to competitively develop independent sources of natural gas and electric energy not otherwise available to California consumers served by public utilities, to require the transmission by public utilities of such energy for private energy producers under certain conditions, and
remove unnecessary barriers to energy transactions involving private energy producers.