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Wait, you can't chose between different power companies in the US? Even in socialist Europe that isn't normally a problem. I can choose between at least a dozen
by pluma 12y ago
Wait, you can't chose between different power companies in the US? Even in socialist Europe that isn't normally a problem. I can choose between at least a dozen different providers of electricity, and at least half a dozen providers of Internet and landline telephone access. And that's just in the rural parts of the country. Granted most of the infrastructure is centralized, but that doesn't stop competition on extending it.
Maybe the problem isn't whether Internet access should be regulated as a utility service but simply that utility services in the US are crap?
- lutorm 12y agoYou used to be able to choose. Then http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis happened.
- bsder 12y agoYou need to point out that it was Enron causing the problem, not everybody has the context anymore of how badly they screwed California. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron
- gadders 12y agoNot wholly. Poor government intervention caused the problem as well.
- bsder 12y agoPoor government intervention meaning "not doing a damn thing" then, yeah, you're right.
- gadders 12y agoNo, it meant capping retail prices and letting wholesale ones float. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis#Government_price_caps http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis#G...
- wglb 12y agoThere are choices for service providers in many places in the US. However, there is one set of power lines, and I would presume that most power losses are due to the power line failures.