Electricit y Savings- Where's the Beef?

Abstract

Wh y a re w e doi n g thi s? Wh y are w e
u pendi n g ,1 5250 b illio n a yea r b usin ess
th at p rov id ed a reli ab le e lect ric s u p p ly
for o ve r a ce n tu ry? IvVhy d o we wis h to
co n fus e 122 mill ion cus to m ers w ho s till
ca n 't fig ure o u t I\" h y it cost s mor e to fly
fro m Ne w York to Akro n than New York to Par is? Wlw hav e we d e-
p rived mill ion s o f re ti rees of th eir d iv id end s and ca u sed billi on s o f
d oll a rs of wr ite-off's?
Is all of thi s ju st a full employment act for energy law yer s, con-
s u lta n ts and lobb yi st s?
" Ah ." yo u say , " we a re do ing it for the be nefi t of con s um er s, wh o
w ill p,l y less for e lectricity ," Rea lly? Whe n? And hOI\" m uch less? Po li-
ticia n s hav e mi sr epr es en ted pri ce sa vin gs by t out in g th e percen ta ge
red ucti o n o f on ly par t of bill. They hav e produ c ed immediat e p rice re-
du ction s b y sh ifting th e am o rti zation o f stran d ed cos ts fro m cu rr en t to
fut ur e years . Th ey hav e propo s ed to red uce taxes lev ied on electricity
sal es, w h ich pr esum ab ly ha ve to be ma d e u p for so me w he re e lse , O ne
reg u l,lt l1ry ,lge ncy d ecr ee d a do uble d ig it ra te re du ct ion for the ind u s-
tria l cus to me rs o f a ut ilit y that had no indu st rial cus tom ers a nd a low
sing le d igit d ecr ea se for e veryone else,