"Peoples Lobbyist"
It just sounds like a stump speech:
When I was running for governor in 1998, I saw the difficulty homeowners and family farms were having paying property taxes. I decided, and the General Assembly agreed, that we should create a program of giving a credit of $200 to $300 to each homeowner on their annual property tax bill. This cost the state about $500 million per year, and the intention was to double that amount over the next few years. Fully implemented, the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant would have exempted from taxation the first $50,000 in value of homes and family farms.In case you haven't figured out, this was written by Roy Barnes, former Governor of Georgia. Barnes has repeatedly denied that he is running, but you can't help but wonder what he is thinking.The current governor has submitted a budget eliminating this credit, and members of the General Assembly are wringing their hands, saying how difficult it is to find the money to continue this promise made to the people of Georgia. We all know that our state’s economy is in dire straits. So you may ask, how have special interests and their lobbyists caused this inability to keep the property tax credit?
[...]
Another current issue where we need a People’s Lobbyist is the effort this year to force the Public Service Commission to allow Georgia Power to collect from ratepayers the cost of two new multibillion-dollar nuclear reactors whose costs have not even been determined. This is like being forced to make payments on a car that you haven’t shopped for, much less even bought, and may not buy for several years.In fact, Georgia Power demands these payments even though Georgia exports electricity to Florida under an agreement accepted by Georgia Power. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not necessarily against nuclear power under the right circumstances, and I think we should build generating capacity for our future. I am, however, opposed to the public paying for it today when Georgia Power’s earnings already may be sufficient to fund the cost of construction.
A People’s Lobbyist would point out that Georgia Power has a rate case next year, and it is commonly thought that we are overpaying them today given their investments and the monopoly granted to them. The People’s Lobbyist would argue that, in fact, next year the Public Service Commission may very well decide that this new construction can be paid from our current payments to Georgia Power rather than from an additional levy on ratepayers during these difficult economic times.
Comments
This does read like someone who has plans to run for governor in 2010.
Posted by: The Doctor | February 7, 2009 09:53 PM
He better have a more competent staff than the people who were running around Georgia on behalf of Cagle (and another candidate to go unnamed) today during the Mass meetings.
Posted by: Ali A. Akbar | February 7, 2009 09:59 PM
I think it's hysterical that anyone associated with government wants to tell Georgia Power they can't charge people for infrastructure when they aren't getting any benefit from it yet. Isn't that exactly what the government does...except sometimes the payer will never receive any benefit.
People whine when Georgia Power makes too much money and then they expect them to fund massive projects. You can't have it both ways.
Posted by: Donnie Chaffin | February 8, 2009 08:02 AM
Donnie, I've written about the proposal. The problem isn't the money, the problem is that consumers take all the risk, not shareholders and investors.
Posted by: Jason | February 8, 2009 07:06 PM
So you expect Georgia Power to be able to rally shareholders and investors to take on great risk with no possibility of great reward? Investors with serious money don't do that (if they did, they wouldn't have it long).
Of course, the root of the problem is that government is involved at all.
Posted by: Donnie Chaffin | February 8, 2009 08:37 PM
You can read my case against what Georgia Power wants to do here.
The problem here is that Georgia Power has no incentive to finish the project on time and the cost overruns are ridiculously high.
Posted by: Jason | February 8, 2009 08:59 PM
I read it when you posted it originally. I just think Georgia Power is caught between a rock and a hard place because of government interference in their business. They can't get investors to take on huge projects with any serious risk because it's impossible to reap a great reward. If they make a big profit, people will start whining to the government and the government already has a mechanism for controlling the profits of the company by setting their rates. Not that our Socialist government needs any particular mechanism...whining about oil company profits and the perception that the government has a right to intrude there comes to mind.
Posted by: Donnie Chaffin | February 8, 2009 09:41 PM
This has nothing to do with profits. I support nuclear energy, but risk is taken by the company not by ratepayers. That's how it's supposed to be done.
Posted by: Jason | February 8, 2009 09:45 PM
Sure it does. People will not invest their money at great risk with no potential for great reward. They might as well take their money and stick it in the bank with no risk.
Posted by: Donnie Chaffin | February 8, 2009 10:29 PM
A business is all about risk. Investment is about risk. This is a protected monopoly screwing over its customers.
Posted by: Jason | February 8, 2009 10:50 PM
Long live KING ROY!
Posted by: G. moxley Sorrel | February 8, 2009 11:47 PM
I'd agree with you if we were operating in a free market where you could get your electricity from any of several providers, a market where the provider could charge as much as the market would bear and one where there was a potential for making real money. That just isn't the reality with Georgia Power.
There is no significant risk because all they have to do is show they're spending more than they're taking in and the PSC allows them to jack up their rates. Because they're a protected monopoly, you're going to pay them one way or another. On the other hand, there's no possibility of great reward either. They still attract conservative investors, usually because of fat dividends, not because of any chance of significant change in stock price.
I don't care how this shakes out with the PSC, the ratepayers are going to pay the bill for these reactors. We can pay as we go now or borrow the money and pay it later, with interest.
Posted by: Donnie Chaffin | February 9, 2009 06:33 AM
Of course they'll pay the bill, but it should be after they're complete. The problem is paying interest now is that the figures Georgia Power has given, as noted by the PSC staff, are a way off, meaning rate payers come out worse than the normal way of funding for this type of project.
Posted by: Jason | February 9, 2009 06:55 AM