Posted on 09/07/2001 7:48:32 PM PDT by lewislynn
Sept. 7, 2001, 7:12AM
BEAUMONT -- A lack of competition among electricity providers in Southeast and East Texas has prompted Acting Lt. Governor Bill Ratliff to urge state utility regulators to delay electric deregulation in those areas.
In a letter to Public Utility Commission Chairman Max Yzaguirre this week, Ratliff said customers could pay more if no other electric providers step in. The regions are currently served by Entergy Corp.
Statewide deregulation is scheduled to begin Jan. 1 following a limited pilot program. However, so far, no competing retail providers have signed potential customers in Southeast and East Texas.
"In the face of mounting evidence that shows East Texas is not ready for competition, the PUC appears unwilling to use tools provided to ensure a healthy transition to competition," Ratliff wrote in the letter on Tuesday. It was reported in Friday editions of the Beaumont Enterprise.
Ratliff's spokesman, Nick Voinis, said a legislative oversight committee will review the deregulation situation in Southeast and East Texas when it meets Friday in Austin.
"The issue is up for discussion," Voinis said. "He's willing to be convinced otherwise if new evidence (of competition) is presented."
Ratliff strongly recommended delaying the onset of competition, citing the fact that the areas are served by utilities whose transmission is supervised by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission because of the involvement of interstate high-voltage lines.
That transmission of electricity does not connect with the rest of the state's electric grid. As a result, it is less possible for retail providers to shop for the most competitively priced electric power.
The PUC is scheduling hearings into the market readiness of Southeast Texas, said commission spokesman Terry Hadley.
Hadley said a final decision on the region's readiness to launch competition won't be made until late October.
Some members of the Southeast Texas legislative delegation have urged the commission to move ahead with plans to begin competition for the region.
State Rep. Allan B. Ritter, D-Nederland, wrote to the commission on Aug. 23 that he opposed delaying deregulation in the region.
"Development of a fully competitive market requires patience and should be viewed as a gradual process," Ritter said in his letter. "Doing so, in the end, will produce benefits for customers."
There is NO deregulation in any state that doesn't have price contols.
In Texas the state mandated price controls (mandated 6% rate reduction for NOT switching providers) favor the "incumbent" energy provider, thereby eliminating true "competition"....even Shell Energy is pulling out of the Texas "deregulation" scam.....
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