I saw this item in the Globe and Mail about Direct Energy and my first thought was, “Good Riddance!”. Texas is likely the ideal place for these middle-man, money for nothing douche bags, in my opinion, since they’re kind of like Enron anyways. I read a few of the comments on the Globe piece and it would seem I’m not the only one who holds this opinion.
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i always feel like a captive audience to these ‘semi-monopoly’ folks. but, until i can afford my own wind turbine…
By: thegnukid on January 27, 2012
at 11:00 am
Before de-regulation here, the utility companies were effectively monopolies. But they were regulated monopolies. Some said that business model bred inefficiency and I suppose that’s true to an extent. However, the so-called “competition” that was supposed to result from de-regulation and “customer choice” has not done anything to reduce the cost to the utility user. Quite the opposite. And the contracts that outfits have drawn up give all the power and advantage to the supplier with no advantage and little recourse to the purchaser of the service (little gems like you’re locked in for the term, with contract breaking – say if you have to move – resulting in sometimes significant monetary penalties, or better yet, the utility can’t supply the gas or power for some reason, well then it’s not their fault and you can’t do a damned thing about it).
Since de-regulation I have fanatasized about installing solar panels, wind turbines, geo-thermal systems but they’re just too expensive still with no payback (in my lifetime) at the current cost of distributed utilities. If I were 25? I’d be off the grid in no time, happily flipping the big bird at the utilities.
By: Rob on January 28, 2012
at 12:03 pm
Douche bags. I love that phrase. Must use it more. For these kinds.
By: Dolce on February 17, 2012
at 12:28 pm