Give residents Electric Choice
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| PAUL REINHARDT |
By Paul Reinhardt -
On Dec. 10, before Representative Massullo and Senator Simpson, I presented a proposal on Florida adopting Electric Choice. My presentation went as follows:
Today marks almost 42 years to the hour that I have lived in Citrus County Florida.
The constituents need electric choice. Duke Energy just announced another rate hike. States like Pennsylvania let you choose your electric provider much the way you choose your cell phone provider, long distance service, and the way you shop for gasoline. Just the other day just 10 miles from Citrus County in Sumter County, I paid $2.81 a gallon. That was my choice. Analogous to a power grid, all gasoline is brought in from ports in Tampa or Jacksonville.
Seniors are on fixed incomes are able to choose their Medicare insurance. Why not let them choose a less expensive electric company? Electrical supply should not be a monopoly. It should be the choice of the people. In Pennsylvania, the delivery method remains the same. The most important benefit of Electric Choice is that it lets one choose one's provider based upon what's important to the consumer.
Seniors on fixed incomes may choose the supplier with the lowest price. Consumers with a "green agenda" may choose the company based upon how the company produces power. For example, the company using the most solar, wind, or even geothermal. Those consumers will have the choice as well.
Electric Choice is done in other states. Our seniors need this choice now. You have both been in the legislature a long time. So in your next session I urge you to send to bill drafting bills that create Electric Choice. During both the Chiles and Bush administrations, I helped draft proposed bills, amendments, and proclamations in Tallahassee. I will assist you. Thank you.
Paul Reinhardt is a Republican candidate for Florida House District 34.
How exactly would this work? Wouldn't it require stringing or digging a bunch of different electric lines?
ReplyDeleteAs far as the "green" agenda, it will only work if we all do our part. Don't mean to sound like a socialist, but we all benefit from a clean environment. Not fair for me to have cheap electric from a nasty coal fired power plant while my neighbor pays more for energy from a power plant that uses solar but still has to breath my dirty air. If that's the case, I want the option for nuclear. And by the way ... do we use methane from the landfill or agricultural waste here in Citrus County?
No change to electric lines us necessary. When you have an outage or service problems the local provider handles the issue. It is consumer driven. It actually encourages companies to compete to provide clean energy innovation to a market if consumers that desire it while others can better help budget their use if electricity more wisely. It's interesting some states that use energy choice have pioneered through competition Next Generation Nuclear producing power generation. This is truly a consumer driven option. I don't see why an electric company catering to a clean energy consumer would not look to generating electricity from methane sources you suggest. Right now we have to take what we get and that's not right!
DeleteNancy the above is the response from the author Dr. Paul John Reinhardt MD Candidate for the Florida House of Representatives. Please excuse typing errors as I was traveling and typing from a small keyboard on my phone. I think you caught to he essence of it.
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