I've been having trouble with the photo upload on Blogger of late. Must be the pains of the new version, eh?
Today has brought me a migraine, something I've not had in a while. I am blaming this one on the weather front that is moving in, since it just feels weather-related.
My electricity bill, which I received yesterday, was $300 for last month's use. That is the most it has ever been and is not indicative of an increased use in power, but instead reflects the 25 percent and up increase of Appalachian Power. I have written a couples of stories over the last several years on deregulation of the electric companies, but I don't know that many people can grasp the issue.
The stories I wrote dealt with Craig-Botetourt, one of the power cooperatives. They increased their rates 25 percent in 2005. APCO followed suit this year. I guess they thought Exxon was getting more than its fair share of our "extra" money.
I am not sure the public interest is best served by letting prices rise until we're all broken and bleeding and living in the dark. Some things are rather important and are requirements of basic humanity. Heat is one of those things. And since a great many people heat with electricity in the absence of coal and wood stoves these days, then it appears to me that regulating such a basic necessity might be something to consider.
I have no idea where that came from, as I did not intend to write about electricity when I sat down here. Actually I had nothing on my mind, so here you go. A little blip of something I think about. The price of my electric bill.
My electric bill at my shop in Salem has doubled since they've gone with AEP last year. At home it's also been unbelievable and is now more than the gas, which heats my home and is cooking range. So I've decided to put away all the electric skittles, and fryers, etc. that I bought two years ago in an effort to save some money because of the high gas price and go back to my gas stove top. From what I've read I don't necessarily think electric deregulation would help however since us consumers probably will not benefit, only the major companies who will sell their electricity outside of our region.
ReplyDeleteDEREGULATION means dispensing with rules that regulate corporate behavior. Deregulation was sold to the public as something that benefits the public beginning with the traitorous class warrior bastards of the Reagan administration. I can't find a single instance in which deregulation has ever benefited anyone other than corporate interests.
ReplyDeleteThe government can do something about this problem. Let them know you want them to, stridently and repeatedly.
I hope I cleared this up a bit in my post today.
ReplyDeleteBlue Country Magic: Electricity and Deregulation