And by awesome, I mean totally sweet!!! What a crock. Oh, I'm still waiting on my lower health insurance premiums from tort reform as well...let me know when those kick in. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6253903.html Texas electricity rates soar under deregulation By JAY ROOT Associated Press Feb. 9, 2009, 10:32AM AUSTIN — In the decade since Texas deregulated its retail electricity market, rates have skyrocketed higher than any other state with such open competition, according to a report released today. Commissioned by the Cities Aggregation Power Project, a nonprofit coalition of Texas municipalities, the report found that residential electricity rates rose 64 percent between 1999 and 2007. Before that, Texans paid rates that were well below the national average, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Consumers have paid too much for too long under deregulation,” said Jay Doegey, chairman of the municipalities group that seeks to curb market abuses. “Instead of excuses or ignoring the problem, Texans deserve meaningful reform.” The Legislature passed a sweeping deregulation law in 1999 that sought to break down electric company monopolies and remove strict government control over retail electricity rates. The idea was to allow competitive market forces to drive down prices. The sponsor of the legislation, former Sen. David Sibley, acknowledges rates have gone up but said he still considers the bill a success. Sibley, who now lobbies for power companies and others, blames the hikes on increased natural gas prices. He said Texas is far too dependent on natural gas and would see lower rates if it diversified to coal, nuclear and other energy sources. “The fuel mix is a problem,” Sibley said. “We’re building nothing but natural gas plants.” Sibley said the amount of transmission capability, demands from population growth and pressure to reduce emissions can also affect rates. But the report found that even among neighboring states heavily dependent on natural gas, Texas has higher rates. Oklahoma and Louisiana, for example, are big users of natural gas but did not deregulate their markets as Texas did, the data shows. Texans currently pay about 10.3 cents per kilowatt hour on average, compared to 8.3 cents in Louisiana and 7.3 cents in Oklahoma, a snapshot of federal data shows. Ratepayers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, which have also introduced retail electric competition, saw electricity prices rise by 39 percent and 62 percent between 1999 and 2007, respectively, according to the study. Former Gov. George W. Bush signed the deregulation law, declaring that competition would “benefit Texans by reducing monthly rates.” The legislation for the first time authorized competition among retail electric providers, allowed power companies to charge ratepayers billions of dollars for pre-existing investments and provided incentives for the use of renewable energy. The report does give the law credit for encouraging the use of renewables, enhancing efficiency standards and helping to reduce emissions. The Cities Aggregation Power Project, which pools the energy needs of its member cities in order to negotiate better prices, does not recommend going back to the pre-deregulation system. But the group says it wants the Legislature to curb market abuses by limiting how much power any one utility can generate. The coalition also advocates reforms that would allow citizens living in its municipalities to join together and negotiate better rates the way governments do now.
People pushing for the tort reform, deregulation of energy etc. just put out a lot of myths to get people to believe one way. In the end we see it wasn't true.
From the article: But the report found that even among neighboring states heavily dependent on natural gas, Texas has higher rates. Oklahoma and Louisiana, for example, are big users of natural gas but did not deregulate their markets as Texas did, the data shows. Texans currently pay about 10.3 cents per kilowatt hour on average, compared to 8.3 cents in Louisiana and 7.3 cents in Oklahoma, a snapshot of federal data shows. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/XeE1hBjjaGg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XeE1hBjjaGg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
From what I've seen, the vast majority of these moves in favor of the 'free market' always end up being in favor of the handful of people who control the market... but suckers always go in for the 'free market' stuff. One more time: there is no abstract process governing the movement of capital in the economy. The movement of capital is controlled by those who have access to capital. There is no invisible hand, there is only the very real intentions of those who would make themselves rich by exploiting your beliefs in a non-existent "natural" regulation of the economy. What happens - for good or bad - happens because of the decisions of people, actual people with actual names and actual motivations.
Choice is a bad thing for determining your electric provider? Ridiculous. Electricty rates are higher because fuel cost inputs are higher. It has nothing to do with deregulation. Once again, the simpletons confuse correlation versus causation. It's like these people seek out the easiest theory to understand, regardless of its merits, and then accept that as the truth. Are we, as Americans, no longer capable of critical, well-reasoned thought? The right comparison is to look at what a given market area would look like with and without deregulation, not compare across diverse market areas, or worse yet, compare to 1999, when commodity prices were lower across the board... Sorry to call you out Max, but your logic, and that of the author, is simply horrendous. Of course, the elephant in the room that no one has the balls to call out is the environmental movement. Global warming alarmists are responsible for a dramatic change in the fuel mix of power plants in the US, which in turn has raised costs on electricity users. Unfortunately, the poor bear this burden in a disproportionate manner. On a btu-input basis, coal plants are the way to go in Texas, and would save customers huge amounts of money. Unfortunately, the Al Gore knob-polishing brigade blocks lower electricity prices at every turn.
Take it from an Entergy customer (which is still regulated with no competition), you really, really, really don't want to re-regulate.
Whats wrong with building a nuclear power plant far way from Houston?? Isn't Nuclear safe nowadays with all the technological advancements we should be able to harness it in way that is super safe.
You ignore the fact that places which use the same energy input and are regulateed, pay cheaper rates than other custoers who live where energy has been deregulated.
Tell that computer makers and car companies. Not every market works the same and the problem with energy is due to infrastructure it is prone to being a captive market.
This past summer Natural Gas was over $13 MMBtu and now it is under $5. There have been huge new resources found the Barnett and Haynesville shales as well as a couple of even more massive offshore discoveries. Texas utilities need to hedge today's prices and burn nothing but natural gas while we build capabilities in wind energy and finish off Yucca Mountain. We need to go ahead and close our dirty lignite coal plants. edit: (from the South Texas Nuke site) Most nuclear plants are very economical, with average production costs slightly lower than costs at coal-fired power plants and much lower than those at oil- and gas-fired plants. The average electricity production cost in 2003 for nuclear energy was 1.72 cents per kilo-watt-hour, compared to 1.80 cents at coal-fired plants, 5.53 cents for oil, and 5.77 cents at gas-fired plants. Gas was about $4.50 in 2003.
MadMax, deregulation and free markets are the answer to every single solitary problem we have. Just look at what happened in the financial markets? How dare you bring this up.
No, I just really like that Price is Right music. My sons and I hum it while watching people miss shots, strike out, drop passes, etc on TV or at games.
This is just the most pathetically ignorant "debate" I've ever witnessed. It's not the same input, friend. Please show me the electric power generation supply curve for Louisiana and for Oklahoma. They're completely different that the one for Texas, which results in different prices. Max is just trying to rile people up. I can't believe he honestly believes that logic he's trotting out. Isn't he a lawyer? Remind me to seek counsel elsewhere if I ever need quality logic.
Nope -- you are comparing apples and oranges. Texas is on a different grid than neighboring states, rendering the comparison of fuel inputs, usage levels, and options to be invalid. Again, it's just so much easier for people like MadMax, A3PO and others who really don't even know enough about the topic to be conversational, to just take the most simplisticly wrong theory and run with it. It's intellectually lazy -- but I guess they are latching on to what is easy for them to think they understand.
Good grief. I guess this thread proves that you don't have to understand a topic to try to argue it. Just ask questions, regardless of whether they make sense. Sometimes I wonder if I'm just too smart for this board. Is there a Mensa-only BBS that I can participate in, where I don't have to wade through this slop?
