MDN Menu

MDN Home

Journalist's Creed

Print

MDN Help

  Exit  

MDN.ORG: Missouri Digital News

MDN Menu

MDN Home

Journalist's Creed

Print

MDN Help

  Exit  

MDN.ORG Mo. Digital News Missouri Digital News MDN.ORG: Mo. Digital News MDN.ORG: Missouri Digital News

Help  Close

Electric competition may mean trouble for low income people

In continuing our three part series on Missouri's possible deregulation of the utility industry, Rebecca Sapakie focused on the customer that may be most at risk with deregulation.

Low income customers are considered a high risk for utility companies. They can't always pay their bills and in a competitive market some companies may not want to serve them.

Bob Jackson is a spokesman for the Committee to Keep Missourians Warm. That's a committee that speaks for low income folks. He said poor people are not a high risk.

Actuality:Bob Jackson
RunTime: 10
OutCue: ...not waste energy.
Contents: [115K WAV file - The record needs to be set straight; low income people do not waste energy.]

Low income people need a bigger voice in this decision making process, according to Jackson. He said certain fixed costs may be passed on to people without an equal say in deregulation.

According to Dan Joyce, the head of the government task force examining electric competition, even though industrial groups have lots of money to hire advocates, that is not the bottom line.

Actuality:Dan Joyce
RunTime: 11
OutCue: ...will have access.
Contents: [128K WAV file - It comes down to what the General Assembly wants and different consumer groups will have access.]

Jackson would like a little more insurance than that. He advocates a tax on everyones' electric bill. That tax will go into a fund to help low income customers get service.

Jackson said big business which advocates competition has the advantage in the government task force currently looking at this issue.

We'll look at utility deregulation through industry eyes next time.

I'm Rebecca Sapakie at the Capitol.