“While limited, customer choice and utility switching in Georgia has a large impact on the utility behavior and regulatory policies. Because of options, utilities try to treat customers like, well, customers. But it is time to promote markets in place of remaining governmental mandates and controls.”

The prevailing goals sought by those seeking reform in the power market are mandated access and common carriage for state regulated utilities. However, this alternative is at odds with unleashing entrepreneurship in this power market. The far better development would be the spontaneous, voluntary, indigenous, bottom-up approach for the development of market relationships rather than government mandates.

The state of Georgia has a system that is near such a market. With a few changes, a truly liberalized market is possible. The ninety different utilities in the state share the high voltage system in common.…

Ed. Note: The following filing with the Georgia Public Service Commission by Jim Clarkson and Resource Supply Management is reprinted below. In the Matter of: Docket No. 29849 Georgia Power Company’s Twenty Fourth Construction Monitoring Report for Plant Vogtle Units 3 & 4)

 It has been clear for some time this Commission will support substantial rate increases for Georgia Power. Over the next two years it is estimated that the Company will seek about a $1 billion in new revenue with even more to follow as the Vogtle unit 4 comes online.
            Now that the first case of Vogtle recovery of capital and associated costs has begun, we offer our advice which has been ignored during the construction cases. There are ways to provide to least some relief to ratepayers.…

Ed. Note: This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnighly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete Newsletter for this post can be found here.

Greed Energy Economics:
*** The ultimate debunking of “solar and wind are cheaper than fossil fuels.”
*** Wind and Solar Are NOT Cheaper than Coal and Oil
*** World Now Wasting $1 Trillion or More per Year Investing in Useless Renewables
*** Offshore wind has a cost crisis
“Green” Jobs at Ford and GM Will Cost Taxpayers as Much as $7.7 Million Each
Soaring costs are derailing offshore wind projects across the world

Unreliables (General):
*** Renewable Energy Storage Requirements
*** NYISO Report: Power outages coming to NYC by 2025, and maybe upstate too
*** Democrats whine about utility hikes caused by their own dumb policies
*** Batteries
Renewables versus the grid at PJM

Wind Energy — Offshore:
*** How Much Does Offshore Wind Power Threaten Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales?…

“Flush with your cash, utilities tried to build plants with unproven technology; they launched projects with unfinished designs and unrealistic budgets; they misled regulators and the public with schedules that promised bogus completion dates; they hid damning reports from investors and the public; they tried to silence critics and whistleblowers.”

“In the mid-2000s, power companies across the South, including SCANA, NextEra, Duke Energy and Southern Company, had their robust lobbying machines running at full throttle. An energy gold rush had begun…. (- Tony Bartelme, below)

Tony Bartelme, senior projects reporter for the Charleston, South Carolina Post and Courier wrote an interesting exposé that should be revisited for its relevancy to the problem of utility ratebase economics: “Power Failure: How utilities across the U.S. changed the rules to make big bets with your money” (December 10, 2017; updated December 28, 2022).…