An Odd Confluence of Events
April 4, 2011 - by
Duke Energy plans to build a new nuclear plant and to pay for it it’s sponsored a bill in the legislature to raise electric rates, which it says is reasonable because nuclear power plants are good things and a public benefit so why should it have to borrow money on Wall Street for its plant?
On the other hand, folks who oppose Duke Power’s bill say it’s asking a lot to make people pay for electricity that doesn’t exist and they don’t use and, well, what Duke is really doing is asking for a government subsidy.
Now, normally, you’d think a bill to raise electric rates on just about everybody in North Carolina would be dead-on-arrival in the legislature – but you’d be dead wrong. Senator Tom Apodaca – the Republican kingpin in the Senate – is sponsoring Duke Power’s bill and, as best I can tell, not one Republican Senator has said a word against it which leaves the Governor as the last, best hope of the bill’s opponents but scuttlebutt has it she’s for raising electric rates too.
So we have an odd confluence of events and, after their electric bills soar, when voters go to the polls looking for retribution they may have to flip a coin to decide who to vote against.
An Odd Confluence of Events
April 4, 2011/
Duke Energy plans to build a new nuclear plant and to pay for it it’s sponsored a bill in the legislature to raise electric rates, which it says is reasonable because nuclear power plants are good things and a public benefit so why should it have to borrow money on Wall Street for its plant?
On the other hand, folks who oppose Duke Power’s bill say it’s asking a lot to make people pay for electricity that doesn’t exist and they don’t use and, well, what Duke is really doing is asking for a government subsidy.
Now, normally, you’d think a bill to raise electric rates on just about everybody in North Carolina would be dead-on-arrival in the legislature – but you’d be dead wrong. Senator Tom Apodaca – the Republican kingpin in the Senate – is sponsoring Duke Power’s bill and, as best I can tell, not one Republican Senator has said a word against it which leaves the Governor as the last, best hope of the bill’s opponents but scuttlebutt has it she’s for raising electric rates too.
So we have an odd confluence of events and, after their electric bills soar, when voters go to the polls looking for retribution they may have to flip a coin to decide who to vote against.