Common sense in action?

Finally we see what I consider to be some common sense. Barack Obama has finally started pushing for Nuclear Power Plants and it is something that should have been done years ago. We need to have more power available to make it a bit more affordable.

I am not at all a big fan of government regulation but we can see with the removing of the rate caps why we had them in some places and why we should put them back. Power companies are utilities that have historically always paid dividends to their stockholders. The fact that they were able to pay dividends means that they were making a profit. It may not have been huge profit but they were not losing money. Now the rate caps come off because "competition" will control the costs.

The very first thing we heard when the rate cap removal was announced in this area was that our electric bills would be going up by anywhere from 30% to 70%. That tells me that competition is not exactly alive and well. It says that the power company executives and boards of directors are out there dancing a jig and saying "WooHoo now we can charge as much as we want" we all know that there truly is no competition because, while in many places you can indeed choose the company that generates your electricity it is the same old company that has to transmit it to your home and now that rate caps are gone they can charge whatever they want for the transmission fees because they are the ones that own the lines.

Enjoy your heat and light while you can because the rate cape removal also means that those poor souls who have lost their jobs will get to freeze to death as well because this change also means it is no longer illegal for the power company to turn off the power in mid-winter.

I would never say that you should not pay your bills because if you use something you need to pay for it but killing off those that are falling behind on their bills may not be the best PR campaign.