Would President Obama privatize TVA & Kill the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg?

Shoals: Privatizing TVA is ‘a bad idea’

By Mike Goens
Managing Editor
Matt McKean/TimesDaily
4/21/13

Anglers fish below thousands of feet of power lines that run from TVA’s Wheeler Dam turbine systems. Those from the Shoals who work closely with the Tennessee Valley Authority said the federal agency should not be turned over to private companies. Matt McKean/TimesDaily

If President Barack Obama needs help orchestrating an effort to privatize TVA, he shouldn’t expect much support from the Shoals.

Those from the Shoals who work closely with the Tennessee Valley Authority said the federal agency should not be turned over to private companies. They fear a privately owned TVA will lead to higher electricity rates, job cuts, more flooding problems and navigational issues on the Tennessee River and other waterways under TVA’s jurisdiction.

“The first questions you need to ask are what’s the gain for government and what would be gained by the community,” said Steve Hargrove, manager of Sheffield Utilities. “If the purpose is to make things better and there is reason to think it’s possible, I would be the first one interested in sitting at the table and talking about it. I just don’t see advantages of privatizing at this time.”

Obama brought the issue to the table through his 2014 budget proposal, which was released last week. He said selling TVA should be explored as a means to increase revenue by as much as $25 billion, money that could reduce the federal deficit and pay for other government services.

Hargrove has a unique perspective to the debate, having worked at TVA for 33 years before retiring as plant manager at Colbert Fossil Plant. He became manager of Sheffield Utilities in December.

His department purchases electricity from TVA and provides power to about 19,000 customers in Colbert County.

“I am a believer in the private sector, but I would fear their mission would be different than TVA’s,” Hargrove said. “The mission of TVA is not to make profit, and the mission of the private sector is to make a profit. They have to answer to a board that wants to maximize profits. When your primary goal is to make a profit, that becomes a higher goal than helping the community.

“TVA has had its problems, and bad decisions have been made, but its mission is good and they are an established part of the communities.”

Hargrove said residential rates for TVA customers in the Southeast are among the lowest 25 percent in the country and

Alabama residents overcharged for electricity by Alabama Power

Despite cheaper production costs, Alabama Power bills higher than Georgia Power

By Ben Raines | braines@al.com
January 20, 2013 at 6:11 AM, updated January 20, 2013 at 8:41 AM

Though it costs less to produce power in Alabama, the state’s residents and businesses pay more for electricity than customers in neighboring Georgia.

The price difference is substantial, according to an AL.com analysis of the annual reports of Alabama Power and Georgia Power, sister companies owned by Southern Co.

Between 2006 and 2011, Alabama Power produced the electricity sold to residential and commercial customers for $1.1 billion less than Georgia Power would have spent to make the same amount of electricity.

But despite that savings, Alabama Power charged its residential and commercial customers $1.5 billion more for electricity than Georgia Power would have charged during the six-year period.

	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	Grand total
Difference in Alabama’s higher rates versus Georgia Power rates for commercial and residential	$181 million	$279 million	$330 million	$316 million	$377 million	$33 million	$1,517,725,500

Alabama Power executives said that it was

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs have Mercury!?!

Many folks don’t know it, but ALL Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) bulbs contain a small amount of mercury. And while using CFLs throughout the house can and does save a significant amount of money because they use less electricity and last longer, they are initially more costly than traditional incandescent bulbs. And yet, the overall cost difference is significant enough to warrant using CFLs over incandescents.

Make no mistake, mercury is a highly toxic element, though it