Dying for a rate cut

Startle Grams | Paul Bourgeois:

“There's something terribly wrong when we have old people dying because they can't heat their home and the Texas Public Utility Commission won't even consider a rate cut.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

There are legitimate arguments whether the PUC should consider a rate cut, but Mr Bourgeois' argument is not one of them. The elderly couple died not because they could not afford gas service. They died because they moved into their house only the week before, hadn't yet had gas service restored, and were heating their house with a charcoal burner. They died because the public is still not educated enough about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Besides, subsidies targeted specifically at the poor would be more effective than rate cuts in ensuring the poor have adequate heating in winter and air conditioning in summer. In return for approval of last year's rate increases, TXU, for one, agreed to help low income customers pay their electric bills. If Mr Bourgeois is truly concerned with the poor, he should investigate the effectiveness of that program.