Posted on 03/20/2006 3:00:56 PM PST by B-Chan
$108.40: The average utility bill for a typical Texan.
$94.80: The average utility bill for a typical electricity consumer in the United States.
40th: The ranking of Texas among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., on the affordability of electricity.
SOURCE: Office of public utility counsel, based on 2005 figures
Part of Texas's problem is the ERCOT grid. Very expensive.
I don't take Fort Worth Star Telegram but I'll bet their rates have gone up in the last ten years. Who's investigating that scandal?
Really? Then I'm well above average.
Well, Texans don't typically have rolling blackouts either. Those states with regulated utilities typically have to get some of their electricity from states like Texas.
Apples and oranges. One does not need a subscription to the Startlegram to live.
There was a good reason the electric utilities used to be regulated. It was called "the public interest". The traditional Christian term was "commonweal". You should look it up.
"Really? Then I'm well above average."
Yeah, I'd take $94.80 in a heartbeat.
Typically? Out of all 50 states, how many regulate electricity rates and are forced to buy power from Texas? 2? 12? 24?
You claim that the deregulation of electric utilities in Texas is connected to the lack of blackouts here. Please post some support for this contention.
Got any evidence? Any numbers? I posted hard data in my article. I have yet to see any evidence posted in refutation of these data.
I'm not claiming the deregulation of electric utilities is connected to the lack of blackouts. I merely pointed out that Texas is a provider of electricity to many other states that have regulated their utilities, some of which have experienced some rather widely publicized rolling blackouts (or Gray-outs in one rather infamous example).
As for the hard data, yes rates have gone up, but they were going up every year before regulation as well. I haven't looked at the source behind this story in the Startlegram, but it sounds like the study was conducted by an organization that might have an agenda.
Nor does one need electricity to live. It is convenient but not necessary. Maybe the state should just find out what the poorest person can pay for electricity and set the rate at that. Some would consider that to be "in the public interest."
He said a recent study by the Public Utility Commission has found evidence of savings under the state's deregulation law, and that Rose, in his August report, did not specifically examine the features of the Texas market.From the article itself, there is a claim that Rose's study did not specifically examine the features of the Texas market, thereby implying that the analysis is flawed at best.
And there is also a good reason for deregulating; it is called production efficiency and competition. It almost always leads to better quality, higher production, and more consumer choice.
The basic differences between you and I:
1. You prefer an efficient society to a Christian society.
2. I post data to support my claims.
I'm still waiting to see some data in refutation of the data I posted. Any data. Any data at all.
Does anyone know long it took for this whole telephone thing to shake out?
25 years or so?
The "data" you posted is meaningless. The "average utility bill" figures don't give the KWH purchased for that amount. If you post that it would help. I am not aware of any evidence that electricity has a religious preference.
You implied without evidence that some states have a shortage of electric power due to utility rate regulation. If so, then please tell us: how many states does Texas supply with electricity? Are all of the importing states regulators of electic utility rates? If not, what percentage are? And what linkage, if any, is there between Texas' deregulation of rates and its provenance of electric power to other states? I see no answers to these questions in anything posted so far.
As for the hard data, yes rates have gone up, but they were going up every year before regulation as well.
Evidence? Please cite.
I haven't looked at the source behind this story in the Startlegram, but it sounds like the study was conducted by an organization that might have an agenda.
The basic data used in the study cited in the article I posted came from the State of Texas. I see no reason to doubt the accuracy of the facts cited in the story based upon their source.
Every organization, from the U.S. government on down, has an agenda. Objectivity is a myth. The best that a thinking person can do is to examine the evidence from all sources, judge each source for its trustworthiness, and make a decision as to whose biased version of the truth is likely to be closest to reality.
Until I see evidence refuting the data cited in the story, I have to come down on the side of the article's author. Again: if anyone has better evidence, please post it. Otherwise, the claim stands.
Often regulators do not work in the public interest, but serve the interests of the reigning party. Further, many utility companies engage in rent-seeking by deliberately raising the regulatory burden. Also, the "public interest" or "commonweal" is not necessarily best served by the lowest possible retail price for power. What would be the incentive for additional capital investment under such a regulatory regime?
Without further evidence, I'd say the jury's still out on this one.
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