Deregulation

The Trump administration and many Republicans took pride in the elimination of various regulations.  Their claim is regulations add unnecessary costs of doing business and are not really needed.  Texas has refused to join interstate electrical grids and railed against energy regulation.  So, how do the residents of Texas feel about the lack of regulations when it comes to heating and lighting their homes? Texas has claimed independence, both from big government and from the rest of the country. But the dominance of the energy industry, the lack of regulations, and the “Republic of Texas” ethos became a devastating liability when energy stopped flowing to millions of Texans who shivered and struggled through a snowstorm that paralyzed much of the state.  Part of the responsibility for the near-collapse of the state’s electrical grid can be traced to the decision in 1999 to embark on the nation’s most extensive experiment in electrical deregulation, handing control of the state’s entire electricity delivery system to a market-based patchwork of private generators, transmission companies and energy retailers. “Competition in the electric industry will benefit Texans by reducing monthly rates and offering consumers more choices about the power they use,” then governor George W. Bush said as he signed the top-to-bottom deregulation legislation.  The dream of a free-market electrical grid worked reasonably well most of the time, in large part because Texas had so much cheap natural gas as well as abundant wind to power renewable energy. But the newly deregulated system came with few safeguards and even fewer enforced rules. With so many cost-conscious utilities competing for budget-shopping consumers, there was little financial incentive to invest in weather protection and maintenance. Wind turbines are not equipped with the de-icing equipment routinely installed in the colder climes of the Dakotas and power lines have little insulation. The possibility of more frequent cold-weather events was never built into infrastructure plans in a state where climate change remains an exotic, disputed concept.  Regulations for power companies in most states require power providers to take precautions against possible outages caused by rare but possible weather conditions as well as other rare instances.  That is what good government is supposed to do... anticipate the unthinkable and make sure the citizens are protected from the consequences of rare events such as weather, floods, storms, hurricanes, and unscrupulous providers of services.  Sadly, good government does not necessarily mean small government not does it mean independence from government.  Good government means anticipating anything and everything that could negatively impact the citizens of that government and put into place rules and regulations to minimize negative impacts.  Today there are still Texans without power.  And, in many cases, Texans who did not lose power are facing electric bills in excess of 1000 times their normal bills.  All thanks to deregulations.  So, the next time a politician males a campaign promise to eliminate “costly/time consuming” regulations ask that politician who will protect me from those who benefit in the short term from deregulation but profit from deregulation in the long term?  Ask the deregulating politician who will pay to clean up the damages that will be the result of government deregulation.  Ask the reregulating politician the extent of campaign contributions he or she is receiving from the industry and lobbyists promoting deregulation.  FOOL ME ONCE, SHAME ON YOU! FOOL ME TWICE, SHAME ON ME.  One can hope American has learned from Trump and from Texas and just might not be fooled again.