Purely for discussion

Yesterday I heard a comment on the radio that made me sit back and give thought--so I will pose the same issue here. I'd like to hear your comments.

We have a long history here of degrading government's ability to provide services in a reasonably cost effective way and in a professional manner. The default seems to be that private based services are always best.

Now--to the radio comment: This past weekend NYC had more power failures due to overloads. ConEd has come under attack by the political leaders and discussions are taking place regarding either turning the operation of ConEd over to another private firm (they have previously done that on Long Island) or "nationalizing" the utility under the control of the city.

Now---for the wrinkle---the argument goes that we would not think of providing services such as police, fire protection, water supply et al by any entity other than government---so why not electric?

The term "slippery slope" comes to mind...To do so would invite the inclusion of natural gas transmission given the publicized gas main explosions in recent history...And should public transportation not include taxi service and interstate trucking under the protective umbrella of government?...Internet and other forms of communication have also suffered sporadic breakdowns...Would we the public be better served if they were maintained by a new layer of municipal or national management?...

I vote "no"...:uhuh:...Ben

Not really in favor of doing that.

As for the power companies sometimes I fee that they are never nor will be able to prevent blackout/power outages since most line run over head. Also they may not be able to place power generating stations in developed areas due to rear view thinking instead of forward thinking. Never been to NYC nor have any desire to but in that crowded area seems to me that decades old systems may not be up to the task and where to make room for generating stations may be quite a task.

Here we have monsoon and winds that can tear down blocks of power lines yet within hours crews are fixing the outages so most serious ones last under a day or less. That and not dealing with snow/freezing weather are just some of the reasons I'm living here. Just my 2 cents

I'm for the seep in in private hands. However, there is on thing I have a question about. Every time we have an outage, once the power is back and I check E-Mail, I have a notice from S W E P C O that our power is out and they are working on it.

Why send a power outage message to someone without power ?.

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Originally Posted by Independent Voter

Why send a power outage message to someone without power ?.

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Most people can get email on their smart phone. If my power was out and I wasn't home I would like to know that----I might run home and crank the generator up.

I have a device at the cottage that monitors power and temperature and calls me (landline with battery back-up) if the temperature drops below the set point or the power goes off. It provides some piece of mind, especially since we are the last ones on the grid---the line stops with us. In reality, we have an excellent power company and they seem to know it before I do---and they react very quickly.

https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2019/...s-so-well.html

I think if we look far enough under the covers we will see enough goobermint involvement (at least here in the west) to satisfy most of us.

I can think of a couple of places where "quasi governmental agencies" are involved with generation. Salt River Project in Az for example (started out hydro and eventually found its way into coal fired) and the ownership consortiums of most of the big plants here. I assume one of the biggest generators here in the west is the Bureau of Reclamation.:shrug:

And then if you are hydro, coal fired, or I assume nuc-u-lar the gooberment is again everywhere you look in the resource extraction and fuel supply. I could go on forever about how incestuous the relationship between coal and the feds is.:yuck:

So now we get to the grid, and out here that pretty much means WAPA. Don't know about back there.

As far as my little community goes (electric co-op under the wing/boot of Tri-State Generation), 1) there isn't anyone here from the gooberment to run it so I assume the central scrutinizer in NY or LA will run it - aint gunna happen, 2) our little electric co-op (owned by me and my neighbors :beat:) aint gunna give away that local infrastructure hanging in the streets and alleys and I don't see the taxpayers wanting to foot the bill anyway.

I suppose I could go on but my finger is tired.:doh: So to put a bow on this, I just don't see it.:shrug:*

Funny how we have all forgotten how pleased we are with the TSA. I'm talking about me here also.

*Probably a discussion for another day, but the only way the government can become more efficient is by continued urbanization. We were sitting around the board room 10 years ago trying to guess what continued urbanization would require in terms of infrastructure. I know the government is planning for the same. Seizing the distribution grid for the common good fits well in our post utopian future.:wary:

I have dealt with many power companies in my career. The poorest---by far, was Hydro-Quebec, a government agency. There was no sense of urgency for anything other than leaving the office at quitting time. The next two worst were public utilities and in both cases they were "given" to other entities to run---with marginal improvement.

When I look behind the curtain at examples of government run services, firemen seem to be the most "healthy" of the group. Surely when you look at examples like Flint Mi (water) and some of the less than professional police departments it has to give one pause. In the case of NY---and pointed out by Joe's linked article---the NYC government already has a vast portfolio of poorly run services----what makes anyone think one more would help?

From this goober's POV, the military looks like the most effective agency. Probably why it is so hated and so many attempts are made to politicize it.

I would think a takeover of the power industry would be harder than the health care system even with as much involvement as there already is.

Hell, I have enough to worry about. Off to the mountains of AZ for me.:pimpgrin:

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Hell, I have enough to worry about. Off to the mountains of AZ for me.:pimpgrin:

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Braggart :hatoff:

Enjoy!

Ahhhh, Hawaii for elk.:smokin: