A regulated utility exists to benefit its customers (ratepayers) and ultimately is responsible to state government. It has always been understood that the purpose of a utility is to meet the needs of its customers for electricity, natural gas or water. Its fiduciary duty is to do so as economically and reliably as possible.
But that has changed, as utilities, aided and abetted by state governments, are printing billions of dollars in profits through the wind and solar scam. Utilities understand that wind and solar are ridiculously expensive–that is the point, from their perspective–and that intermittent energy sources can never provide reliable energy. So the burden is now shifting. Instead of utilities being required to provide adequate energy, customers are called on to reduce their energy consumption. Which is to say, reduce their standard of living.
Two cases in point popped up on my family’s chat line today. Xcel Energy, which serves most of Minnesota, declared today an “Energy Action Day.”
This is because the utility could see that it might not be able to meet its customers’ needs for electricity–in other words, there could be blackouts. One might think that an “Energy Action Day” means Xcel will take action to maximize output of electricity. But no: the utility’s failure is taken as a given, and the “Action” consists of customers reducing their standard of living.
We are going to see more and more of this, as increasing reliance on wind and solar devastates our electric grid. At some point, we become a third world country, with electricity available only intermittently. Just as the wind blows, and the Sun shines, only intermittently.
This second instance is even worse. It comes from Center Point Energy, which supplies natural gas to the Twin Cities. This appeared on social media, Next Door or something of the sort. I deleted the user’s name. I wondered whether this could be real, but one of my daughters says she has gotten a similar letter:
So the gas company compares neighbors’ bills, and tries to shame some into using less gas. This particular neighbor responded quite eloquently. But the situation is weird: you might think that any company would applaud those who use the most of its product, not try to embarrass them. But we are not living in a sane world when it comes to energy.
What I want to know is, how long are the American people going to stand for this?
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