Ending public utility regulation in South Carolina is going to be painful and costly. That’s the bad news. The good news is that it can be done and we don’t need to reinvent the wheel to do it. Other states have successfully tested several options already. We simply need to research what they did and fine tune one we believe will work here. Our regulated monopoly system is broken. It works for the monopolies and public officials but doesn’t for the ratepayers nor the taxpayers. Energy industry experts have convinced us that the Public Service Commission model is a failure. Utility regulators do not protect ratepayers, said Jim Clarkson, president of Resource Supply Management and an advisor to businesses on costs. “Utility regulators protect the utilities,” Clarkson said. He is not alone in this. Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, has called for deregulation and competition to drive down power costs at an earlier SC Small Business Chamber seminar. “The way we have our energy sector set up, companies are encouraged to pursue capital-intensive projects because ratepayers pay a large percentage of whatever capital they put in the ground. So the more they spend, the more you pay.” “Let independent power producers go out there and compete,” Davis said. Tom Clements, who intervened in the PSC hearing for Friends of the Earth, said, “The PSC was in place to serve the interest of the utility. As long as PSC members are appointed by the legislature the bias will be towards the utilities and counter to the ratepayers.” Clarkson said utilities would build pyramids if their ratepayers could be charged for them. He called for ending exclusive utility territories and allowing competition to lower costs. Regulators protect utilities from competition, recover the cost of bad investments and charge ever higher rates. If you agree, please tell your House and Senate members. They need to hear from you.

– JerryBellune@ yahoo.com