Comment 4 for bug 446140

The regulators are basically power supplies. The regulator framework abstracts away the control the these power supplies. It allows us to switch off power supplies when a particular device is not in use (to save power).

If the regulators are not initialised, the connected peripheral won't work. (serious)
If the regulators are not powered off, we will consume more power.
If the regulators are configured incorrectly (incorrect voltage), the peripheral might not be able to operate and maximum capacity or behave erratically.

IOW, this needs to be fixed.