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Doesn’t really seem like a reasonable comparison. If someone doesn’t pay their bills you stop giving them electricity. This is not anywhere close to what happen

Doesn’t really seem like a reasonable comparison. If someone doesn’t pay their bills you stop giving them electricity. This is not anywhere close to what happened with the 2008 crisis. And yes, that’s the point. I don’t want the state to socialize losses, and I don’t want them to say I can’t buy electricity from a wholesaler. People should live with their decisions.

khuey 6y ago
Electricity bills are post-paid. There's an inherent credit mechanism.
- cool_dude85 6y ago
  Pre-paid plans are relatively common around the world and becoming more so in the US. Much of that is due to utility companies requiring quite large deposits that they will forgo if you are pre-paid.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- fastball 6y ago
  Even so that's only a month of lag time. Housing crisis was an entirely different scale and set of problems.
alistairSH 6y ago
Texas Republicans are absolutely planning to socialize the losses by using federal emergency funds to offset electric bills incurred by residents. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/21/texas-republicans-federal-funds-energy-bills https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/21/texas-republ...
- masonic 6y ago
  One quote from One Republican congressmember, with absolutely zero power to do so, is being contorted into a grand bailout plan. The Guardian is one of the worst places to look for any genuine insight into US policy.
  - alistairSH 6y ago
    Gov. Abbott is planning to socialize the losses as well. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2021/02/20/texas-gov-greg-abbott-calls-spike-in-energy-bills-unacceptable-holds-emergency-huddle-with-lawmakers/ https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2021/02/20/texas-go...
ubercow13 6y ago
It doesn’t matter if the state bails out this kind of risky behaviour, if they didn’t then the downside would still be largely socialised through increased electricity prices for everyone else as sellers start to price in the risk of default on their trades. Electricity market is regulated partly because providing a reliable electricity supply is seen as important for society, maybe more so than the importance of giving consumers the freedom to gamble on the electricity markets.
- gizmo686 6y ago
  Most consumers already pay the increased electricity prices. The issue under discussion is the wholesale consumer, who had (up until now) been saving a bit of money by buying electricity directly at wholesale spot prices. Consumers who had payed a premium for a middle man company to take this risk in exchange for a fixed electricity price are not facing exorbitant bills.
  - ubercow13 6y ago
    I think that’s beside the point. If risky consumers are going to participate in the wholesale market, that risk will be priced in at the wholesale level instead of being separately hedged. The idea that consumers can have the freedom to participate in the wholesale market and get cheaper energy out of it seems unsustainable. They are inherently risky and have to pay for that risk at some level, in the long run (unless the state always bails them out)

khuey 6y ago

Electricity bills are post-paid. There's an inherent credit mechanism.

cool_dude85 6y ago
Pre-paid plans are relatively common around the world and becoming more so in the US. Much of that is due to utility companies requiring quite large deposits that they will forgo if you are pre-paid.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
fastball 6y ago
Even so that's only a month of lag time. Housing crisis was an entirely different scale and set of problems.

alistairSH 6y ago

Texas Republicans are absolutely planning to socialize the losses by using federal emergency funds to offset electric bills incurred by residents. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/21/texas-republicans-federal-funds-energy-bills https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/21/texas-republ...

masonic 6y ago
One quote from One Republican congressmember, with absolutely zero power to do so, is being contorted into a grand bailout plan. The Guardian is one of the worst places to look for any genuine insight into US policy.
- alistairSH 6y ago
  Gov. Abbott is planning to socialize the losses as well. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2021/02/20/texas-gov-greg-abbott-calls-spike-in-energy-bills-unacceptable-holds-emergency-huddle-with-lawmakers/ https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2021/02/20/texas-go...

ubercow13 6y ago

It doesn’t matter if the state bails out this kind of risky behaviour, if they didn’t then the downside would still be largely socialised through increased electricity prices for everyone else as sellers start to price in the risk of default on their trades. Electricity market is regulated partly because providing a reliable electricity supply is seen as important for society, maybe more so than the importance of giving consumers the freedom to gamble on the electricity markets.

gizmo686 6y ago
Most consumers already pay the increased electricity prices. The issue under discussion is the wholesale consumer, who had (up until now) been saving a bit of money by buying electricity directly at wholesale spot prices. Consumers who had payed a premium for a middle man company to take this risk in exchange for a fixed electricity price are not facing exorbitant bills.
- ubercow13 6y ago
  I think that’s beside the point. If risky consumers are going to participate in the wholesale market, that risk will be priced in at the wholesale level instead of being separately hedged. The idea that consumers can have the freedom to participate in the wholesale market and get cheaper energy out of it seems unsustainable. They are inherently risky and have to pay for that risk at some level, in the long run (unless the state always bails them out)