Not sure where you're describing, but it varies by jurisdiction. In California, a commission called the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) sets elect

Not sure where you're describing, but it varies by jurisdiction. In California, a commission called the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) sets electricity prices charged by all the major operators. See for example: http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/energy/Electric+Rates/ http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/energy/Electric+Rates/ Of course this is subject to a long-term constraint that rates must be sufficient to support generation and wholesale purchase... but there's no direct "pass through of market rates" on an hourly, daily, or monthly basis.