Houston's mayor did not seem very enthralled with the PRIVATE company

[SoCalDem]

that runs the electricity generation/delivery to the citizens.
He went out of his way to NAME them..... "Centerpoint"..(any realtion to Choicepoint?)
Let's see how quickly they decide to pay the overtime necessary to restore services ASAP.. he "urged" them to be quick about it, but private companies owe their STOCKHOLDERS first...not last.. and all the overtime necessary will surely cut into their PROFITS..

I guess time will tell now that a real emergency has hit them, whether private business can really deliver on all those promises they made..

The delivery/generation of vital services should not be in the hands of people who are profit-first..

I wonder if Bush will make a few phone calls, or just do a photo op in a few days..


http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/centerpoint-energy-begins-power-restoration/story.aspx?guid=%7B1DBEFDE7-587E-4CC1-BE8A-92D5584F3137%7D&dist=hppr

HOUSTON, Sept. 13, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As of 8 p.m., CenterPoint Energy has restored power to 112,000 customers, primarily in the western portion of its service territory, in the first eight hours of the recovery effort. Of the 2.26 million CenterPoint Energy customers, 1.99 million are still without power.
The company's electric system suffered widespread damage as a result of 100-mile-per-hour winds, and trees and wind-blown debris on power lines. Highlights of the first day include:


* Restoration of the Coastal Water Authority Lynchburg water
pumping station, a major source of water for the City of Houston
and other smaller communities in the area
* Service restoration for one water treatment facility and one
wastewater treatment plant in the City of Houston
* Restoration of service to hospitals such as the Veteran's
Administration Hospital in the Texas Medical Center; Memorial
Herman Hospital, Memorial City; and the Heart Institute in Clear
Lake City
* Inspections by company personnel of electric substations on
Galveston island, with a goal of restoring service to the
University of Texas Medical Branch as soon as possible
* Company damage assessment experts flew over the area conducting
aerial surveys and documenting damage.



CenterPoint Energy crews are working around the clock and are ready to integrate the first of more than 7,000 skilled workers who are coming to Houston beginning on Sunday to assist with power restoration.
Patience will continue to be a key factor. Customers need to be prepared to be without power for up to four weeks and possibly longer depending on the severity of the damage. Customers need to keep in mind that CenterPoint Energy crews will have limited access to some areas due to flooding and debris.
Customers are asked NOT to call the company to report outages, but only to report emergencies such as downed power lines at 713-207-2222.

[glowing]

1. They'll do what they did in Florida, get the state to allow them to charge a

standard fee to pay for the storm. There's an extra $8.00 and change on my bill every month since 2004. They can't do it better for cheaper when they have to provide a profit.

[dysfunctional press]

2. privatize the profits, socialize the risk...it's the american way.

[madrchsod]

3. the electricity provider in cedar rapids iowa is just finishing

the restoration of power to the city. they have 500 homes left and individual metering left to finish in the downtown area.
the power company had to clean or rebuild most of it`s equipment and they did`t face the amount of damage that houston area has faced.

a home that has been flood damaged has to be inspected by an electrician and the gas company before the home can be reconnected to utilities.

houston and the rest of texas restoration will depend how many crews the utilities can get from around the country.

[TahitiNut]

4. "Excess capacity" is a basic evil to prvate business.

All private enterprise is about reducing operational expenses and maximizing revenues. Any operational capacity (personnel, vehicles, etc.) above and beyond what is needed to sustain continuing operations (and continuing revenue collection) is an expense that's not offset by revenues. In any disaster recovery situation, excess capacity is the life boat.

This is part of the reason that "running government like a business" is a Bad Idea.

[kristopher]

8. I like limiting your argument to the provision of electricity

When they unbundled the vertically integrated utilities the argument was against running utilities on a cost plus (usually about 6%) basis. They argued the inefficiencies of the system primarily by pointing to the perverse incentive this creates to provide bloated services, saying that the regulatory oversight was ineffective at curbing this trend.

Several uncounted costs with this new structure have come to light. For example, the tendency you described is widely known to exist but the example has usually been limited to routine line maintenance. A company under a cost plus structure aims for zero outages while the profit maximization model with limited real competition is geared to accept a lower level of customer satisfaction and will thus deliver service with a lower level of reliability.

I don't ever recall hearing this applied to disaster management however; it is a significant argument in my opinion.

[Igel]

5. If you're concerned, here's a link.

http://www.centerpointenergy.com/home

Follow the red "updates" link to find pdfs of what's been restored.

Our power was back on last night at 7. One of the lucky 112k.

[TXDemGal]

12. Just out of curiosity, how would you describe the affluence of the area

where you live? I'm just wondering whether poorer neighborhoods will be last on the "list" of electricity restoration. At the end of the article above, Centerpoint is saying people should be prepared to be w/o electricity for up to a month.

[Egalitariat]

6. They won't be earning much in revenues when their customers' power is out

How do you think their shareholders will feel about that?

[kristopher]

10. The loss of earnings is offset by the savings over time of not maintaining

The loss of earnings is offset by the savings over time of having to pay for equipment and personnel that are utilized at less than the maximum possible.

[cobalt1999]

7. That's a little unfair.

It's only one day after the storm and they've restored power to over 100K and are working around the clock despite the widespread damage.

What more would they be doing if publicly owned?

[kristopher]

11. It isn't related to how hard they are working.

It has to do with having the ability to put say 20% more fully equipped crews on the road (for example only I don't know the actual percentage).

[cobalt1999]

14. I'm not defending privately owned public utilities, however,

why would a publicly owned utility be able to put 20% more fully equipped crews on the road? Where would this 20% increase magically come from? They are already using all the crews they have.

[kristopher]

18. See my posts #8 & #10

[alarimer]

9. Dergulation sucks.

How much are you willing to be that these vultures will raise their rates? My rates nearly doubled this summer. They can change rates without going to the state. I think that is wrong.

We need to re-regulate utilities in Texas. I make a decent living and I cannot afford my utilities.

I expect that price-gouging will occur once the electricity is back on, to recoup the losses.

[RB TexLa]

13. You can change providers without going to the state as well. I've changed mine three times

in the last year.

[alarimer]

16. It makes no difference. They all raise their rates at the same time.

It's kind of like airfares I guess. I WAS paying 13 cents/KWH, it went to 22 cents/KWH (about a 60% increase in one month, fucking assholes) so I switched to one promising 15 cents. Now they are at about 18 cents. I cannot afford to pay my electric bills for half the years. I got a 2.5% pay rate. By my estimation gas has gone up over 50% this last year and electricity at least 30% in the same time frame. Fuck these corporate pieces of shit. I want those CEOs to die, they are scum of the earth.

[mwooldri]

15. The wires is one thing; the actual "supply" is another.

Here in NC, it's all private companies for the vast majority anyway (some co-ops but I don't know any major municipal electric cos, maybe my ignorance). But it's a monopoly for an area and also regulated - they can't increase rates without going to the State. As such it's pretty good... I have no grumbles about Duke Power at all (who supply my area). When things like ice and wind come they are usually pretty ahead of the game, they know that they're going to get disconnects and will call in crews from several states to help clean up the mess. I guess that Duke Power probably has already been called upon by the utilities in the Gulf area to help with cleanup and re-connect.

[SoCalDem]

17. Duke & Reliant were two of the ones who raped Calif

back in 2001.. We stayed with SCE, but the governor before Davis, already had part 1 of the sell out underway.so even our rates went up..and when Ahhhnold unseated Davis, he settled for pennies on the dollar.. (why Davis HAD to go)


Hoe California got
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=duke+energy+california+scam&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=