electricity

  • Natural Monopolies

    Byjbp

    This was originally posted as a series on Live Oaks in August 2009. Comments have not been migrated. It is frequently argued that certain services–particularly utilities–are “natural monopolies”, which Wikipedia explains as: In economics, a natural monopoly occurs when, due to the economies of scale of a particular industry, the maximum efficiency of production and…

  • The Power to Coerce

    Byjbp

    This was originally posted on Live Oaks on July 31, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. Electric companies are popular targets for politicians who seek to score points with voters. Nobody likes high electric bills or power outages, and politicians can use all manner of threats, arm twisting, and explicit force to compel utilities to…