our readers write

Reader Rory Magargle of Leesville sent us this exchange with his state Sen. Ronnie Cromer about the prospets of deregulating the power utility industry in our state.

He wrote Sen. Cromer: “For several weeks the Lexington County Chronicle has run articles that outline the advantages of a competitive and deregulated power grid. I see no reason that this would not work for those of us who are MCEC customers. This would eliminate the PSC which would be great. What are you thoughts?”

Sen. Cromer replied: “A year or so ago I had the same thoughts so I did some studying on the subject of deregulation and spoke with quite a few people because my thoughts were that if we could choose who we wanted to supply power to our homes the competition would drive down prices.

“What I found was that in the several states that deregulated, the price did not go down. Prices either remained the same or went up slightly. Go figure.

“That was not what I expected. The problem that we have had with the PSC can be corrected by replacing the commission and my understanding is that is the direction the legislature will be going in over the next couple of years.”

Editor’s note: Congratulations to Mr. Magargle and Sen. Cromer for taking an interest in deregulation. It is true that some states failed to lower costs with deregulation yet Texas and others have succeeded. This is complex but can be done successfully here. Lawmakers need to research the states that succeeded and follow their lead.