3 ms·

Markets don't work well for power distribution because there's fundamentally a natural monopoly. Unless you think we should allow each distribution company to

• ffgjgf1 3y ago
  There is no reason why you can have a single public (state owned) company which owns and maintains the wire and a bunch of companies which generate/buy and sell power to consumers effectively renting these wires.
  • Turskarama 3y ago
    It makes somewhat more sense for generators than distributors but it's still a difficult situation because almost every form of generation has strict requirements (often government mandated) on where they can be built. Then with the distributors who actually sell to the public: the service they are providing here is really dubious. Ultimately they are just buying power at wholesale prices and reselling it to the public at some average price + markup. What can they actually do to increase customer service? They are essentially just a middleman. At least where I live it effectively makes no difference which one you go with, some might temporarily have better rates but they inevitably need to get back in line with everyone else or go bankrupt.
    • ffgjgf1 3y ago
      > some might temporarily have better rates but they inevitably need to get back in line with everyone else or go bankrupt. That how “perfect” competition works. All of them are forced to maximize efficiency and minimize prices because they have no way to differentiate themselves. I would not necessarily trust all public monopolies to do the same.