Tom,

>>Evan,
>>
>>>>>Back to power plants. :-)
>>>
>>>>Get the stupid state government out of business they do not understand! <g>
>>>
>>>Do you not believe the information in this article?
>>>http://www.disinfo.com/pages/dossier/id825/pg2/
>>>
>>>Everything I read(aside from information from the power companies) says that the power companies are purposely reducing output to drive up the price, and then speculating on the wholesale price of power, so that it gets purchased over and over again... further driving up the price. Really electricity isn't a commodity that can be run by business, since we have no choice over who we buy it from and no real choice whether we use it. Sounds like a perfect commodity for a goverment-esque corporation to run.
>>>
>>>In BC, the power company is a "crown corporation" which means that it is a company owned by the government. They are mandated to supply power, something which the California power utilities don't have to do. As well, if BC Hydro (electricity, not water) makes too much money, they give back the excess to customers in the form of credits on bills. Granted, they don't always do this without some pressure. Another benefit of government sold power is that it is more pro conservation. A private business will try to sell as much power as it can make, while a government system will have as an interest or as a mandate to try to conserve power (selling less). Private companies exist to make a profit, which fundamentally is at odds with the power production and conservation.
>>
>>That would be true if there was only one company (monopoly). Think about it.. Monopolies are considered 'bad' here in the states for what reason? They allegedly 'gouge' customers. What's the 'solution'? Break them up like the telephone companies. Why? Competition drives down proces. With that how can one turn right around and defend a governmental monopoly?
>>
>>Are governmental employees more noble? I doubt it.
>>
>>If monopolies are bad in private industry why are they good in government?
>
>Doug;
>
>Did your phone bill go down? Did your phone service remain the same or change? Our bill went up. Service is a joke. The phone company ran a backhoe through the phone cable about one block from my house. We went to a working phone about a mile away. We were told we had no contract with them so they would go out and charge us $150 for the service call plus whatever it cost to fix the line. I went to Mars and back - and suggested they contact the supervisor of the backhoe team who just admitted to me his crew broke several hundred lines. So, I did not have to pay - this time.
>
>In years past with AT&T, you got service and things worked. Now you get crap and pay more for less. Why do the damn phone companies try to screw us every way possible? I hate telephone calls from phone marketers - want call forwarding, etc.?
>
>When AT&T was broken up, they were required to pay MCI and Sprint Millions of dollars for three years while they became "competitive"! So in effect AT&T subsidized it’s competition. Rates did not go down though. Telephone calls from a call box were a dime. Now there are .35. Using Sprint or MCI I paid over $2.00 to call my house from a pay phone less than a mile away.
>
>If you want to get gouged - let the government dictate how business should be run!
>
>Tom
>
>Tom

Well, from what I remember AT&T was a private business before the government broke them apart. I think that sometimes the government wants to break businesses apart because the feds perceive them (the businesses) as having too much power. Kind of like the old Standard Oil stuff. IBM and Microsoft also come to mind. I see that as a separate issue then whether or not the feds should have a monopoly in any one area.