Friday, November 30, 2007

Everything you wanted to know about electric deregulation but were afraid to ask

Eye On Toledo Preview:

Electric deregulation...two words that make your eyes want to glaze over. It's a complicated subject that few understand fully. But with the Ohio Senate passing SB 221 and discussion starting in the Ohio House, the issue is once again front and center.

In 1999, SB 3 was passed and signed into law. It was supposed to gradually turn Ohio from a regulated energy state into one in which competition flourished. Since that time, legislators 'fiddled' with the plan and are again doing so.

My guest on Eye On Toledo Monday night is Lynn Olman, representing the Alliance for Real Energy Options. He was the chairman of the Ohio House Public Utilities Committee when he was a state rep. He'll help sort out what it all means, especially for those of us in northwest Ohio, where energy costs have traditionally been higher than most other areas of the state. For more information, please visit Eye On Toledo Blog.

Following his interview Monday, I'll do another blog post here to help make sense of this complicated subject. Hope you'll join us Monday night - and every night - at 6 p.m. on 1370 AM or online!

1 comment:

Hooda Thunkit (Dave Zawodny) said...

Maggie,

As long as only one utility delivery provider, whether it be natural gas, propane, electricity, or whatever is allowed to maintain a delivery monopoly, the price of the commodity desired will remain artificially high, despite the pricing of the commodity by the provider of choice.

We need multiple delivery providers, with non-exclusive rights and access to us, the customers.

Competition by both the commodity providers and the transmission/delivery providers is one of the keys to providing more reasonable energy, in the region, IMNHO.

Picture Toledo/Lucas Co./Ohio with multiple natural gas, propane and electricity energy delivery providers AND multiple vendors/providers.

That's the real formula for competition and an end to such things as stranded costs and all of the other trappings characteristic of a monopoly.

Oh, I almost forgot, and picture a Public Utilities Commission that only oversees and polices the safe/reliable delivery standards of the delivery of the commodity, not the price of the commodity or the costs of delivery.

This formula also works for TELCO/Cable/Data "commodities" too.

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