The Electric Western: Common Sense Utility Reform in the Frontier Spirit
By Sandra Haverlah, President, Texas Consumer Association
In 1971, an odd little youth-market movie called Zachariah was marketed as the “first electric western.” The move chronicled the Old West odyssey of a young man trying to find his way. In the end he finds wisdom, taking reality as it comes.
Like the movie’s Zachariah, it’s time we settle down and honestly confront the real challenges of the new frontiers of electric utility regulation.
As the world comes to grips with increasing demand for and shrinking supplies of energy resources, as well as the urgency of the climate crisis, electric utilities must invest in new energy efficiency and conservation technologies, home energy management, and environmentally sound electric generation.
From the perspective of a consumer advocate, an old-timey, exclusive focus on rates, with little or no regard for the challenges of the new energy frontier, won’t get the job done. Electricity is probably going to cost more in the future. The question is, what do we get for our money?
The just-concluded session of the Texas Legislature failed to adequately address the realities of electric generation and use. Legislators worked hard at new laws promoting renewable energy and efficiency, but in the end the legislation got caught in the crosshairs of political gamesmanship on other issues.
Consumers gained some ground this session. Freshmen legislators – Sen. Wendy Davis and Rep. Chris Turner, both from the Fort Worth area – passed an important bill that requires retail providers to give consumers notice of pending contract expirations. This could save consumers a lot of money by giving them time to shop the competitive marketplace.
Rep. Burt Solomons passed a bill requiring simplified billing. Anyone who’s looked at their electric bill lately knows this will help.
But other critical legislation didn’t make the cut. For instance, a bill protecting the original purpose of the System Benefit Fund – which helps low-income Texans keep up with their utility bills – failed to pass. That means revenue from the fee consumers pay will continue to be used, through creative accounting, to balance the overall state budget.
Late in the session, Google, TXU Energy and several other utility companies and cooperatives announced an initiative, Google PowerMeter, to enable “a future where access to personal electricity information helps everyone make smarter energy choices. Google PowerMeter shows consumers their electricity consumption in a secure Google gadget.”
The announcement didn’t receive a lot of attention, but I think the partners in the project are like scouts of the Old West, riding ahead to look for the dangers and opportunities. It’s the spirit our approach to energy management and regulation ought to take.
Inertia can have a debilitating influence on state government. It’s much easier to keep doing what we’ve always done. But today’s energy and environmental challenges don’t give us that option.
Utility companies and consumer advocates are used to fighting one another over rates and corporate profits. The Public Utility Commission was created to referee the fight and do its best to protect consumers while ensuring adequate energy supplies.
We might call this the approach they take “Back East.” But we are already traveling across the Frontier, and we had better open our eyes and confront our new realities.
We need to focus on safe and renewable energy production. We need to dramatically alter energy consumption by giving consumers the tools they need to use less. The era of retail competition provides incentives for companies to see into the future and deliver more value to consumers. We saw this happen for competitive telecom a decade ago, and it’s up to the utilities to prove the same can happen with electricity.
But, state’s policies and the debate needs to match the global competitive environment. Right now it doesn’t.
Sandra Haverlah has been working on consumer pocketbook issues with the Texas Consumer Association (TCA) since 1988 and has served as President of TCA for the last decade.