Comments on: California Proposition 16 – “California Taxpayers Right to Vote Act”

By: Andrew Lyon

Andrew Lyon — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:13:53 +0000

Ralph,
Funny, you are already the one to decide. Also, Prop 16 will not affect you, I’m afraid. If you already have public-controlled power, you will retain that power even if Prop 16 passes. Prop 16 will give you no choice over the cost of your power and no choice over who provides it.

Prop 16 only offers behemoth power corporations an unfair advantage when it comes to people CHOOSING their power (you and your peers have already chosen public).

Also keep in mind that private power could raise your rates just as much as public. Your anger is misplaced, and your vote will not go towards what you want.

My suggestion is to write your local representative, not vote on bills unrelated to your problem. If you use the republic system to your advantage, you may find it gives you more benefit.

By: Ralph More

Ralph More — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 05:35:09 +0000

Now that our GOVERNMENT in the form of the LA City Council allowed DWP to increase our electric bills, I will vote for Prop 16 as I want to be the one to decide if DWP should raise our bills in a time of economic disaster.

By: Mike Jones

Mike Jones — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 06:38:26 +0000

The first time I watched the T.V. ad I knew that something
slick was being pushed with that convoluted title pretending
to protect my interests. I suspected that the power company
was trying to suppress competition. I was right. A No Vote
on Prop 16 will protect my interests.

By: Andrew Lyon

Andrew Lyon — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:14:02 +0000

My sentiments exactly, Brian.

By: Brian Von Herzen

Brian Von Herzen — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:19:46 +0000

Prop. 16 takes away your choice of buying PG&E power or buying community power. The 2002 law says that individuals can opt out of any community power choice. What is at stake here is PG&E’s monopoly on power. Vote NO on Prop 16 to preserve your choice on buying the cleanest and most cost-effective power in your community.

By: Andrew Lyon

Andrew Lyon — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:24:20 +0000

Mike, high regulation in a market does not eliminate competition. I do see your point however. I think that although publicly-controlled power may not always be beneficial, taking away the “taxpayer’s right to vote” on whether or not they want it isn’t the way to go.

I agree that pushing the “public power will generate profits from tax dollars” idea doesn’t make sense. The purpose of publicly-owned utilities is to lower costs by being non-profit. My error.

What I’m saying is that although you may have some valid points, it doesn’t change the fact that public power does have its benefits over private, and taking away the choice from the common voter is a sleazy way to lock them into using private power.

Prop 16 will benefit nobody except for private utilities (aka PG&E).

By: Mike R

Mike R — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:21:58 +0000

I can see some holes in your logic. The local governments buying into power generation does not create competition. Power generation and sales are already highly regulated. Further, If company A makes power (as almost all municipalities generate some power rather than buying off the grid) and sells directly to consumer, how will the government stepping into the middle and reselling power to me, at a profit using my tax dollars benefit me? I can’t think of many business models where adding more middlemen lowers end use cost.

Mike R