I'd be curious to hear about how Lubbock is doing in terms of electricity prices. (Lubbock is unique in that it has competing electrical companies that seem generally to work very well.)

Sounds right--it's exactly what one would expect.

Deregulate the utilities, the prices to consumers go up, and the profits to the companies go up. Big win for capitalism. Yay.

But is this something reported? Does the MSM tell the Texans the outcome of their chosen policies?

I really should look things up before posting. Lubbock is also going up in price, but not as much as expected.

However, they haven't had prices deregulated yet.

If prices are trending up, why would that be an incentive for the power companies to increase capacity that would ultimately cause prices to level off? I'd be inclined to think that they would leave things as they are and rake in the dough.

The facts are irrelevant to a political party that "makes their own reality".

If the Republican Party, through their outlets such as FoxNews keep repeating, "It's all the Democrats' fault", and what passes for mainstream reporting repeats these words, by November everyone will be asking, "Why did Bill Clinton raise my electricity rates?"

Look to Chris Matthews as the bell weather of RNC talking points: He's the most malleable of the crew and a good indicator of how well the Republican propaganda machine is working.

Republicans do run the state now - it is amazing that the electricity rates are so high, but the Pubs probably don't even notice - they are just convinced that if a Pub thought it up - it is 100% Right!! I live in TX and in fact live in the same District that the POTUS has his large tract of land(read not a ranch). These folks would never admit it even if they thought they were getting the highest prices in the country - as long as you didn't call it a TAX it has to be OK!!!

While I can understand the obsession of some with free markets, free markets consistently fail to deliver what they promise. I think it is important to understand that free markets only lead to optimized efficiency under ideal conditions. Then we can discern the deviations from ideal free markets that lead to distortions, monopolies, and ultimately inefficiency. This will help those of us who favor some government regulation pwn those who blindly espouse free markets for all situations during debate, and more importantly it will also point out which industries most require some form of regulation for maximizing efficiency.

I am not an economist, nor have I read much of Adam Smith, so the only defining characteristic of an ideal free market I know is zero barrier to entry. Any market or endeavor that requires significant capital to get started will inevitably trend towards monopoly and inefficiency. Oil, rail, steel, and telecommunications are the first examples of industries with significant barriers to entry that come to mind, and all of them have required government regulation.

I can't think of any other obvious deviations from ideal, but I'm sure they're out there. Anything I'm missing?

You have a point.

Many in Texas will see their high electricity rates as being caused by environmentalists and Dems that are preventing drilling in ANWR....not noticing that in liberal states with regulation, the rates are remarkably lower.

Just as an example, here is a page showing all the different electricity providers the citizens of Pasadena, Texas have to choose from:

http://www.electricitytexas.com/cities/pasadena.html

Some are cheaper, some are more expensive, some provide renewable power, some don't, etc.

Is there any reason why customers who are concerned about the cost of electricity can't switch to a cheaper provider? That is supposed to be the benefit of a free market, no?

-Jeremy

"Let them eat volts."

Part of a market strategy is that consumers constantly pay attention to prices from various providers. Who does that for their utilities? You look up prices possibly once, when you first get them hooked up. Even if you kept track and switched to the lowest as things changed, can you imagine the pain in the butt that it would be to get your utilities switched on a regular basis? Ugh.

I live in Canada's Texas (Alberta), which is also a deregulated electrical market. Deregulation has done nothing for the consumer.

It's not just prices...customer service is also terrible. Every time I have a problem with my bill, I have two different companies (the one who sends me the bill, and the one who reads my meter/owns the power lines) telling me to talk to the other one in an endless loop. In the end, I just have to pay whatever they tell me to pay, because the only alternative is to get cut off. Which then leads to massive fees to get hooked up again, not to mention the credit rating impact.

And here's the thing about prices encouraging new supply. Anyone with deep enough pockets to bring a noticeable amount of new supply online profits more from high prices than increasing production. A friend of mine worked on a project that would have brought in massive hydro generation, big enough to meet 30% of demand in this province. I would have also been great for the environment, as it would displace a lot of coal. It was scrapped before construction began because it would have lowered prices, thus hurting profits.

Does anyone remember what happened a few years ago in CA? Any person that knows anything about economics would not vote for deregulation. It's (and it's been proven) a license to steal. It makes me think that alot of money was spent to fraudulently get these bills passed.

As for Texas, the good people that gave us Bush and Enron. How's it feel?

I have a business in CA and my last bill was $18. per KWH. The everlasting effects of deregulation.

The Texas republicans will probably blame the higher rates on the gays, the liberals and the lack of prayer in the schools. And, given the state of education in Texas, the average Texan will buy it. Hook, line and sinker.