This is utter BULLSHIT!!! (Utility company raises rates for bad credit...)

[dolo amber]

A utility company in Texas now wants to charge their customers with bad credit (read: more often than not the working POOR) more for their electricity. This is to be based on a rating system that takes into account not ONLY their electric bill, but also cable and telephone.

So, in essence...If you work 2 jobs, have to juggle your bills to make ends meet and occassionally have to pass on paying your telephone or cable to make your electric bill on time so your kids can have like...fresh FOOD and MILK...that's just too fucking bad, your rates are going up. After all, a huge multi-million dollar company's bottom line is FAR more important than your children's health (now that they're no longer fetuses, who gives a fuck, right?).


God bless America. I hate this fucking country. :grr:

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/9627794.htm?1c

[librechik]

1. Say, you want a revolution?

well you know
we all want to change the world.


That is disgusting. How much longer will we tolerate this sort of thing?

[dolo amber]

11. Forever

Though there are those of us who would damn near sacrifice anything to change these things, the number who just don't give a big fat hairy fuck is 1000 fold. :(

[TahitiNut]

26. Niccolò Machiavelli said it well several centuries ago.

"We must bear in mind, then, that there is nothing more difficult and dangerous, or more doubtful of success, than an attempt to introduce a new order of things in any state. For the innovator has for enemies all those who derived advantages from the old order of things while those who expect to be benefited by the new institutions will be but lukewarm defenders." (from The Prince)

Energizing large populations to support change has historically been possible only in reaction to a precipitating event of such significance that indolence and "business-as-usual" drones are roused from their lethargy and untracked from their well-worn paths. Gradualism is the ally of tyranny. Many people forget in a deludedly compressed retrospective, but Hitler was a gradualist not an overnight phenomenon. His ascendancy to the conquest of 80% of Europe was accomplished over many years and the 'Final Solution' came late in a long series of increasing atrocities.

[dolo amber]

27. Well played, TN

:) :hi:

[thinkingwoman]

2. they're just the latest

too do this. We haven't had renter's insurance for nearly 10 years because I have bad credit...even though for the 12 years before that I never filed a single claim. Eight years ago I was told I could not purchase renters insurance at any price. I remember asking the agent why drunk drivers could still get car insurance but I could not insure my kids clothes. He laughed.

Working poor have no lobby and therefore no voice. It is as simple as that.

[tandot]

3. I've heard that on our local news yesterday.

It goes hand in hand with the Bush mentality: Take it from the poor to give it to the rich.

Punishing poor people who hardly make it from month to month with higher rates is utterly disgusting. Only in America...

[rpannier]

4. Another example of a public utility company

NOT representing the public. Illinois is the only state I know of that forbids utility companies from turning off power and heat during the winter. I know Indiana and Maine allow them to turn off the power for non-payment of bills. I think this is outrageous. PUC's should be forbidden from turning off people's power in bad weather (cold or extremely hot).

[eyesroll]

7. Wisconsin can't shut off power either during the winter

If you have power on Nov 1, they have to leave it on through March (give or take -- I don't know the exact dates).

I'm not sure if there's mandatory reconnect, though -- if you lose your gas and electric in September, do they have to turn it on again in November regardless of your payment history?

[rocktivity]

9. If New Jersey doesn't have a similiar law, it used to.

:headbang:
rocknation

[OneTwentyoNine]

12. We have a no shut off clause in the winter...

Don't know if its for all of the State of Kansas but in Wichita it goes into effect around Nov 15 and runs through about March 15th.

I've never heard the higher rates on utilities for bad credit but I sure as hell heard about it for insurance rates. Total Corporate BS....

David

[skygazer]

24. Last I knew

Vermont didn't shut off in winter either. But it is ridiculous how the poor have to pay more. They are charged extortionate security deposits for utilities, for example. It's such backwards logic because paying these higher rates, they are that much more likely to fall behind, making their credit that much worse.

These are the same people who receive credit card offers from vultures who offer them pre-appproved cards at high rates of interest. The people get them, use them to pay their electric bill or some other neccessity and find they cannot pay off the card. They soon max it out, begin assessing penalties which put them over their credit limit causing more penalties, etc.

Instead of penalizing them, they should get some kind of a break or assistance.

[eyesroll]

5. Wow -- I thought it was bad enough that one credit-card

company can jack up your rates if you're late on another card.

Then, it became car insurance, because somehow people with bad credit drive worse. :wtf:

But now they want to charge more for (necessary) electricity because you messed up your (optional) cable?

I'm not saying people who pay their bills late should be able to do so constantly, with impunity -- but aren't late fees, disconnect fees, reconnect fees, and interest on same enough for these companies?

[Jacobin]

6. Ridiculous. If you don't pay, they cut off service

Plus, they can have a deposit at the start, so there is no way they aren't going to get paid.

Privitization? Sucks.

[TryingToWarnYou]

8. Can you please post the most important parts of the article?

Some folks like myself, have no interest in registering to read.

[dolo amber]

10. It's not a registering site

:)

[TryingToWarnYou]

18. From the splashpage.....

Sign Up. It's Free!

Create an account below. As a member of Star-Telegram.com you'll enjoy free access to:
• Breaking news, commentary, sports coverage, and the latest weather
• Email Newsletters
• More Member Benefits

blah blah blah...

Since you apparently have access, can you post the most relevant parts of the article?

Thanks!

[dolo amber]

21. How weird!

I didn't sign up or anything...:shrug:

I touched on the key points...lessee what else there is...



<snip>

FORT WORTH - A TXU Energy plan to charge higher residential electricity rates to customers with poor credit has drawn a protest from the state's utility watchdog.

The state-funded Office of Public Utility Counsel filed a complaint Thursday with state regulators, asking that TXU be required to abandon its plan.

<snip>

TXU Corp. Chief Executive John Wilder has said that TXU is readying a new pricing structure that will offer better rates to what he calls "high-value" customers.

Schein said that TXU hasn't finished defining a high-value customer, but it likely would be one who "pays the bill on time and doesn't call on numerous occasions."

That rankles consumer advocates.

"TXU shouldn't be allowed to get away with discriminatory pricing," said Randy Chapman of the Texas Legal Services Center. "The people with credit problems often live in the inner cities, where the wires and poles that provide electricity to them were paid for years ago. Why not charge the higher rates in the suburbs, where the wires and poles are newer and may not be paid for?"

[TryingToWarnYou]

22. Thanks much!

NT

[sui generis]

14. yeah, and if too many of us register as bubba from bubbaville

they might get suspicious. :evilgrin:

[jayfish]

28. If You Paste The Article Title Into Google News...

the return usually allows access without registration.

Jay

[dolo amber]

30. Now THAT

is a handy bit of info! ;)

[sui generis]

13. the worst part about this is that TXU is both gas and electricity

Well, this is why we vote. And this is why we regulate.

There are always going to be challenges and fights, and we just have to remember to get involved and participate in the fight in a meaningful way, or else nothing will change.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

15. "Compassionate Conservatism"...stump on the poor!

[CrispyQ]

16. While the rich use excess amounts of electricity at a lower price . . .

...and don't get penalized for their over consumption. But I guess when you have a guy like Cheney at the head of the ship, who believes the conservation is a very small part of the energy issue, this shouldn't come as a surprise. Makes me want to puke.

Yep, it is government of, by & for the corporations.

[Magrittes Pipe]

17. It's been going on for a long time... ever since Reagan, really.

You know what's fucked up? Nixon -- fucking NIXON was better for the poor in this country than Clinton was, better than Kerry will be if he pulls this election out of his ass. Yeah, I'm gonna vote for Kerry -- but it's sick that the goddamn "Democrats" these days are to the right of fucking NIXON when it comes to the poor.

Yeah, now I'm pissed off. Still, you'd best watch it -- you may blow your "evil" cover by posting things which indicate that you may actually care about people and the shit things done to them. ;)

[Screaming Lord Byron]

19. Jeez, how much money are they at risk of losing? Can't be very much.

Do they have a monopoly?

[daveskilt]

20. racial profiling by power comapnies

raising rates is technically illegal - rates are frozen by federal regulation till 2005. What the companies do is put a deposit on 'high risk' accounts (ie poor people) which they are meant to return after a set time (usually a year) of on time payment. Some companies (like DPL in Ohio) even profile by streets, houses, or neighborhoods. VP of operations at DPL, Pat Swanke, told me that they wont accept new customers from some neighborhoods (hispanic) unless they are forced to by lawsuits and then they put high deposits that are only refundable after a year - "we just don't want customers from some neighborhoods - they are just too high of a risk for us to supply them with power"

[asthmaticeog]

23. Yet another argument for public utilities

In Cleveland, we have a public power company in competition with the private one (FirstEnergy - the company that caused last year's massive blackout. You're welcome.) which keeps the rates and other chicanery lower than in areas where a private utility has a monopoly. Which puts the lie to the myth that privatization is going to make everything just peachy for everyone.

Not incidentally, we have Dennis Kucinich to thank for the fact that we have public power at all. Go DK!

[SoCalDem]

25. File for bankruptcy, and you'll pay higher car insurance too

My friend found this out the hard way after she filed.. At first it did not go up, but after a few renewal cycles, they raised it almost a third.. She called to find out why it went up, and they said that her "credit score" now made her high risk..:shrug:

also in CA, you will not be able to get a decent place to rent if you have a bk on your record..

She thinks about trying to sell her house and move to a rental, but is afraid that she would not be ABLE to even find a place that will rent to her..

If you run into financial difficulties, and your name is not Lay or Trump...you are screwed..

[hatrack]

29. All part of the TXU Comanche Peak bailout plan

After incurring construction and operating cost overruns in the hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars for the nuclear CP power station, guess who's going to pay?

Hint: it won't be TXU, its officers or shareholders.

[redqueen]

31. Nice, huh?

I love my state sooooo much. /sarcasm

This is what happens when sheep are duped into electing wolves. Every. Single. Time.

[KayLaw]

32. Hospitals , as well

There was a segment on a news show that said hospitals often charge higher prices for the poor. The anchor said, That's because these people are less likely to pay their bills. So they charge them more? That makes absolutely no sense to me.

[dolo amber]

34. That's like when you bounce a check

You generally get $50 in fees...$25 from bank, $25 from whomever you wrote the check to...

I'm not saying you should just be able to go 'round writing bad checks wily nily, but there's definitley a hole in the logic of making someone who didn't have enough money in the first place pay MORE money...:shrug:

[lectrobyte]

33. Disgusting, but not surprising.

The claws of the predatory corporation dig deep...

And it seems like only yesterday, the government seemed like it was somewhat functioning to balance out the worst instincts of business as practiced here. There were things like product safety laws, and fair trade acts, and food and drug safety standards; most people seemed to think it was a good thing.

[dolo amber]

35. A lot of people didn't

And those people are called "republicans". x(

[MsConduct]

36. Utility companies

are all about the bottom line. Name one other thing, besides taxes or gasoline, that we pay for that we have nothing what-so-ever to show for it except the bill. They have us by the huevos and there is nothing we can do about it except go solar. But then again, they'd probably figure out how to charge us for how many
sunbeams we use.

Peace

[solinvictus]

37. "Public" utilities...

It's ridiculous that despite the fact that the vast majority of these companies were started with public moneys, they owe no responsibility and have little oversight by the same public they claim to serve.