My TX power company is bankrupt

[ziggy29]

This is another reason I consider Texas to be untenable as a primary retirement residence. I used to dream about my "river home" in the Hill Country but after seeing Missouri I realize how much better my options there would be.

Actually, much of the Hill Country doesn't have to deal with this deregulation which has caused electric rates to spike.

Areas served by electric co-ops (including where I live) are exempt from the "energy choice" plan and usually have much lower electric rates. Ours just rose to about 11¢ per kWh from about 9.5¢ a year ago. Still a lot cheaper than any place where "consumer choice" is involved. A large chunk of the Hill Country -- maybe even most of it -- is served by co-op power. (In my case, the city buys wholesale power from the LCRA and distributes it in the city limits.)

I'm a good capitalist and I believe in free-market competition. But having lived in Houston and in California during their famous boondoggle, I'm starting to wonder if electricity is just one of those things that don't work in the free market.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Having enjoyed the deregulation here in CA as well, I can say with some assurance that the free market thing sure as hell didnt work here.

 

[Nords]

Having enjoyed the deregulation here in CA as well, I can say with some assurance that the free market thing sure as hell didnt work here.

Oh, I don't know, it seemed to work pretty well for Enron and anyone else with the time & capital to exploit every tiny little clause in the thousands of pages of the "deregulation" regulations...