Illinois is a text book case of why government shouldn't screw with markets

[BoomerD]

Wow...you have LOW electrical rates! We live in an area that is served by a publicly owned utility, and pay approx 50% more than you do! People who have PG&E have rates even higher than we do...
Your current rate structure:
CHARGES.
Monthly Customer Charge.
(1) For customers where three or more customers are each
served through separate meters from a single service drop
or underground service ...............................................................................
............. $2.94
(2) For all other customers ...............................................................................
............................................................................................
............. $7.13
Energy Charge.
Charge per kilowatt-hour for kilowatt-hours supplied in the month:
Summer Months.
For all kilowatt-hours ...............................................................................
............................................................................................
............................................................................................
.................. 8.275¢
Other Months.
For the first 400 kilowatt-hours ...............................................................................
............................................................................................
............................................................................................
.................................................................................................
... 8.275¢
For all over 400 kilowatt-hours ...............................................................................
............................................................................................
............................................................................................
.................................................................................................
..................................................................................
... 6.208¢

OUR rate structure:
Summer
(May ? September)
Monthly ....................$12.50
Electric Usage (per kWh):
First 500 kWh......... $0.1173
Over 500 kWh......... $0.1286
Winter
(October ? April)
Fixed Monthly.................... $12.50
Usage (per kWh):
First 500 kWh......... $0.0972
Over 500 kWh......... $0.1066

PG&E's rates:
Residential Schedules:
Residential Schedules: E-1, EM, ES, ESR, ET Tiered Energy Charges (KwH)
MINIMUM rate= $0.11430
Tier1 $0.12989 T
ier2$0.22989
Tier3 $0.32227
Tier4 $0.37070
AVERAGE rate$0.16247


I guess it's just one of the costs of living in Kahleeforneeya...

 

[BrownTown]

WOW, holy cr@p thats waaay high than it is here in Tennessee.

 

[borosp1]

Comed parent company EXELON CORPORATION is having record profits and is almost at its 52 week high in stock price (Oct 10th closing price = $60.80)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=EXC

There argument is that if the rate hike does not go into affect the company will go bankrupt.. I love these fake threats and Unsubstatiated Rumors. How can a company that had a rate freeze for the last 10 years post record profits and then threaten if they are not allowed to raise rates by 30+% next year they will go bankrupt. It shows in America how big business controls everything and ripping people off who least can afford it doesnt matter. In a business like the Utility market they should always be regulated because of the monopolistic pricing they do.

Anyone remember many years ago the derregulation of the cable industry which promised increased competition and lower rates. Well I can tell you 100% my cable rates have not gone down once since that bill was signed and there has not been any competing cable company in my area. Hence in any Utility that has monopolistic powers should regulated by Govt. Free Market doesnt determine prices when the energy company is bidding against itself and no one else in determining price of electricity.

 

[newmachineoverlord]

It's ridiculous to claim that a rate freeze on electricity should be tied to inflation when minimum wage hasn't even risen since the rate freeze started, and minimum wage isn't tied to inflation. Furthermore, as has been said the electric companies are still making plenty of money with the rate freeze. Utility prices should not be allowed to outpace increases in the minimum wage.

As said by ebayjc: "Utility monopolies (Electricity, Natural Gas, and to some extent, Telephone/Cable/Internet) should be regulated by the local government." Though he left out water and transportation. In some contries they privatized water, and then they jacked up the price of water until the local economy was completely destroyed, and then bugged out and left. That could be done with any utility if privatized/deregulated. In some areas that used to have trolley systems for transportation, they privatized the trolleys and they got bought by GM, who stopped service in order to increase demand for cars. One of the worst things that's happened to this country is the privatization of the prison industry, it's now a huge entrenched business and 90% of prisoners have never been convicted of a violent crime, at huge taxpayer expense. "The average cost of housing one inmate is estimated at $27,170 a year." Sentencing laws are now written to please the industry, not to serve the people. Infrastructure must be regulated for a healthy economy, and those who claim otherwise don't understand capitalism. Capitalism requires competition in order to work, and requires regulation to prevent monopolies, to punish racketeering (as seen in the music industry), and to regulate monopolies that do occur (ie. the municipal water supply).