[wplug] Be nice if we had such a freenet in Pittsburgh

[Brandon Poyner]

On 2/23/07, Zach <netrek at gmail.com> wrote:
> Is it normal to have such ridiculous monopolies the way we have here
> (Verizon, Comcast, Duquesne Light) in other similar sized cities in
> the US? Is the city so desperate for a significant corporate presence
> it feels the need to continually throw huge tax incentives, and
> monopolistic anti-consume polices? Ironically the business tax burden
> here is among the highest in the nation. Better to lower this and get
> rid of the idiotic monopolistic, anti-competitive practice and then
> there would be true market dynamics in play which would benefit
> consumers, the city and business in the long run! Sigh our state,
> city, and county's electorate seems to have predilection for putting
> bozos into power and re-electing them over and over and over....
> (sigh). Thus endeth the rant.

In my experience it's normal to have monopolies on utilities.  You
can't realistically have a dozen companies running competing phone
cables, coax, gas pipelines, or what have you, through the
neighborhoods.  It's hard to quantify how ridiculous one area was over
another.  All the places I've lived have had something similar to the
PA public utilities commission (http://www.puc.state.pa.us/) that are
supposed to keep the monopolies in check.

"The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission balances the needs of
consumers and utilities to ensure safe and reliable utility service at
reasonable rates; protect the public interest; educate consumers to
make independent and informed utility choices; further economic
development; and foster new technologies and competitive markets in an
environmentally sound manner."

-- 
Brandon
Kiva.org - Make a small loan, Make a big difference