Comments on: Is consumer protection lacking in Texas retail electric power market? http://knowledgeproblem.com/2009/10/04/is-consumer-protection-lacking-in-texas-retail-electric-power-market/ Commentary on Economics, Information and Human Action Mon, 21 May 2012 15:20:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Consumer protection in the Texas retail power market, part 2 « Knowledge Problem http://knowledgeproblem.com/2009/10/04/is-consumer-protection-lacking-in-texas-retail-electric-power-market/#comment-9646 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:22:53 +0000 http://knowledgeproblem.com/?p=5566#comment-9646 [...] Freedom Power, one company serving the prepaid power segment of the Texas retail market. (Yesterday I commented on part one of the [...]

]]> By: Michael Giberson http://knowledgeproblem.com/2009/10/04/is-consumer-protection-lacking-in-texas-retail-electric-power-market/#comment-9645 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:35:01 +0000 http://knowledgeproblem.com/?p=5566#comment-9645 Tom, “set the record straight” may be too generous. I’m mostly just complaining. Funny thing is when I first read the story I thought, “wow, that is a lot of information and they really brought in a lot of voices and different perspectives,” and started to post highly complimentary remarks.

Just, as I worked out what I was trying to say, it increasingly dawned on me that there was a serious disconnect between the implied story (bad consumer protection practices at the PUCT resulting in sometimes serious harms to consumers) and the reported stories (it is difficult to get by when you are poor; not paying electric bills can lead to loss of power; PUC appears lax in enforcing some power retailer licensing requirements; some Texas politicians want more consumer protection authority).

So the content of my remarks changed as I edited.

]]> By: 電力会社と消費者保護 » Rion's Blog http://knowledgeproblem.com/2009/10/04/is-consumer-protection-lacking-in-texas-retail-electric-power-market/#comment-9642 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:39:28 +0000 http://knowledgeproblem.com/?p=5566#comment-9642 [...] Is consumer protection lacking in Texas retail electric power market? « Knowledge Problem The two customer hardship cases described in the story – a heart patient who relied upon an oxygen machine, a paraplegic – both lost power after failing to make payments. [...]

]]> By: Tom http://knowledgeproblem.com/2009/10/04/is-consumer-protection-lacking-in-texas-retail-electric-power-market/#comment-9641 Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:24:19 +0000 http://knowledgeproblem.com/?p=5566#comment-9641 I see this as a problem of supply and demand for news. People are not willing to pay enough to fund journalism by people who actually understand the issues they are investigating (as this reporter seems to have misunderstood) and so they get news in the form of the blind leading the blind (to mix a metaphor.) Fortunately, we have the occasional TTU Prof willing to set the record straight. I guess that’s a cross-subsidy from the education to the journalism sector.

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