For many years Lubbock, Texas was the largest or among the largest cities with dual, competing electric utilities. If a consumer was unhappy with utility A, all it took was a phone call and about three days and the consumer would be hooked up to utility B. Standard economic theory suggests that such an arrangement …
Kate Galbraith, a reporter for the Texas Tribune, and Asher Price, a reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, have written a great historical review of the development of wind power in Texas. Recommended reading if you are interested in the development of wind power.
Michael Giberson Brace yourself, sequester is coming! The news has been filled with horror stories over the pain threatened by the sequester cuts. From the mighty New York Times (“As Governors Meet, White House Outlines Drop in Aid to States“) and Wall Street Journal (“Governors Brace for Sequestration’s Hit to States“) down to a blog …
Sequester Reporting Scavenger Hunt: Official Rules Read More »
Michael Giberson Mostly oil and natural gas stories from around the web: The Hill’s E2-Wire, Oil industry: Response to leaks boosts case for pipeline – “The Obama administration’s swift response to leaks at the TransCanada pipeline boosts the case for approving an extension of the line, the oil industry argued Monday.” Logic is: sure the …
Michael Giberson Texans who have drawn there water supplies from the vast but shrinking Ogallala Aquifer are engaged in a complex process of clarifying and/or renegotiating a more exact notion of just what rights they have to access the resource. A story in the Sunday Lubbock Avalanche-Journal provides an update. Some clever “enviropreneurs”, to invoke …
How Can Property Rights in Subsurface Water Work in West Texas? Read More »
Michael Giberson Clarity in the law is usually deemed a virtue. Groundwater planning processes implemented in Texas a few years ago have led to a few legal fights and the legislature has taken up groundwater law to help clear up some of the confusion. The conflict has arisen when groundwater management districts issue landowners permits …
Michael Giberson When an essay about ups and downs in the natural gas industry ends suggesting we need energy sources “as steady as the rays of the sun and as clean as the wind on plains” …. Well let’s just say the weather over the last 24 hours in this part of the plains doesn’t …
Michael Giberson Some regional power business developments have a few people in the area scratching their heads and wondering what is going on. An excellent article in Sunday’s Lubbock Avalanche-Journal explores the issue, yet still leaves local readers wondering what a quasi-public company is up to on our behalf. In brief, High Plains Diversified Energy …
Investors Using Municipal Power Company Borrowing to Maximize Private Returns? Read More »
Michael Giberson Cities have taxpayers and monopoly utility companies have ratepayers. When the city owns the utility, the taxpayers are – more or less – the same group of people as the ratepayers. In this case, does it matter which group pays how much for what? Should, for example, the municipal utility buy vehicles for …
Taxpayers, Ratepayers, City Government, Municipal Utilities Read More »
Michael Giberson A newspaper report said, “Internet and direct-mail sales have become essential to the growth of smaller winemakers and microbrewers in the last decade.” No doubt the reason that “distributors of alcoholic beverages are pressing for a federal law that would allow states to block interstate sales of wine and beer to their residents….” …
Defending the ‘three Tier’ Alcohol Distribution System Read More »
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