[Elecraft] BPL - OT

[Mike Morrow]

Fred wrote:

> Power companies are a natural monopoly given special status
> to provide a public service.  They should NOT be allowed to profit,
> or to compete with for profit entities.

If that were true, it would certainly be a surprise to the stockholders of
the many electric utility companies in the US, including the many mutual
fund holders and retirement systems that have invested heavily in US power
companies.  When did these companies become non-profit organizations?  I
hope they're at least getting all the tax-exept benefits thereof!  : - )

And with de-regulation and the interconnected power grid, they are hardly
monopolies any longer.  In fact, competition between generating companies is
extremely fierce today, and getting more so.  That's because they ALL are
for-profit companies.  Even the federal government agency TVA is required by
federal law to pay for ALL (including manpower and management) of its power
generating and distribution costs from the revenues it makes from its sales
of these commodities.  (The only funds that TVA gets from the treasury are
for non-power related programs, like lakes, parks, and recreation
management, fertilizer development, etc.)

> They should not be allowed to enter the BPL business with their unfair
> advantage and put free enterprise business out of work

So "free enterprise" applies to some companies and not to others?  What is
the regulatory basis for that?

Like any sane person, I agree that BPL needs to be stopped.  But the
arguments put forth above are not germain, and are certainly not accurate.

73,
Mike / KK5F