For years now, we have heard conservatives tell us how much better the private sector can do at providing services than the government can do. They have tried turning over many government functions to private concerns, and most of the time these are disasters which wind up costing ordinary citizens even more.
They tried it with the Department of Human Services here in Texas, and we wound up with a mess that we're still trying to solve. We were also told a few years ago that electric deregulation would show how efficient the private sector was and would result in lower prices for consumers. This was nothing but a huge lie told by Republicans so they could funnel windfall profits to their corporate buddies!
Anyone who really thought deregulation through could have seen it for the lie it really was, but the Republicans were smooth talkers and were able to convince most people that black is really white. Now there is proof of the lie.
The private companies who were deregulated here in Texas are now charging some of the highest electric rates in the nation. Meanwhile, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tells us that government and consumer owned electric companies are charging significantly less for the electricity they deliver. These companies were not deregulated because they are not "for-profit" companies.
Let's look at some prices being charged consumers. TXU is charging its customers 13.8 cents a kilowatt-hour (kwh). But the consumers in Denton, which has a municipally-owned power company, are paying only 8.6 to 9.7 cents per kwh (depending on the times of year). The average of 6 North Texas co-operatives and municipally owned plants was 10.2 cents per kwh, and none of them came close to the rates charged by the private companies.
Why are the 150 municipal and co-operative power providers charging their 6 million customers less than the private companies? It's pretty simple. They don't have to turn a profit - they just have to cover their costs (and those costs don't include multi-million dollar salaries, thousand dollar-a-night hotel rooms, or private jets).
It's pretty clear that deregulation of private electric providers has not worked. In fact, consumers get the best deal when they are the owners - whether through their government or through a co-operative.
This is one of those functions that could probably be done better by government. You need only look at the deregulation in Texas to see that the private corporations will squeeze every nickel they can out of their consumers. At the very least, we must re-impose regulation on the private electric companies. They have proven they cannot be trusted with deregulation.
The private sector doesn't do it better, thay only charge more to do it.
They tried it with the Department of Human Services here in Texas, and we wound up with a mess that we're still trying to solve. We were also told a few years ago that electric deregulation would show how efficient the private sector was and would result in lower prices for consumers. This was nothing but a huge lie told by Republicans so they could funnel windfall profits to their corporate buddies!
Anyone who really thought deregulation through could have seen it for the lie it really was, but the Republicans were smooth talkers and were able to convince most people that black is really white. Now there is proof of the lie.
The private companies who were deregulated here in Texas are now charging some of the highest electric rates in the nation. Meanwhile, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tells us that government and consumer owned electric companies are charging significantly less for the electricity they deliver. These companies were not deregulated because they are not "for-profit" companies.
Let's look at some prices being charged consumers. TXU is charging its customers 13.8 cents a kilowatt-hour (kwh). But the consumers in Denton, which has a municipally-owned power company, are paying only 8.6 to 9.7 cents per kwh (depending on the times of year). The average of 6 North Texas co-operatives and municipally owned plants was 10.2 cents per kwh, and none of them came close to the rates charged by the private companies.
Why are the 150 municipal and co-operative power providers charging their 6 million customers less than the private companies? It's pretty simple. They don't have to turn a profit - they just have to cover their costs (and those costs don't include multi-million dollar salaries, thousand dollar-a-night hotel rooms, or private jets).
It's pretty clear that deregulation of private electric providers has not worked. In fact, consumers get the best deal when they are the owners - whether through their government or through a co-operative.
This is one of those functions that could probably be done better by government. You need only look at the deregulation in Texas to see that the private corporations will squeeze every nickel they can out of their consumers. At the very least, we must re-impose regulation on the private electric companies. They have proven they cannot be trusted with deregulation.
The private sector doesn't do it better, thay only charge more to do it.
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