ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area deregulation

Only the company that generates the power. The local utillity still ownes and maintains the distribution. They have been sub contracting more now than they used to. You still contact them for utillity work.

Here in Texas dereg will start officialy in 2002 I think. I should know that answer because I work for the utility.

I think that we will probebly be charging some of the same fees as has been mentioned already but not sure how far it will go.

Right now there are no charges for a temporary disco or reconnect for change orders. But I believe there to be a charge for reconnects after disco for non payment.

Also in place now is a charge for a temp bypass cable if the cust owned URD drops are bad. It's $95 right now but I think that it will double or triple if the cust takes this option. We'll see.

Also as of now there are no charges or fees when it is determined that causes are inside trouble. This is one charge I would love to see because I myself am so tired of going into raggedy apartment complexes to reset a breaker because the cust is too lazy to do it thereselves. It has gotten to be rediculous. These cust down here are spoiled rotten beyond belief.

We are in for a change that is for sure, but our company said we are not expected to encounter the trouble that has plagued Calif.

We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

glenn35

I think you can thank this stupid Deregulation for the recconnection charge.

Another aspect of dereg. in the U.K. has been the almost complete dropping of basic safety tests.

As I've said several times, we have no permits or inspections, and anyone can do a complete re-wire.

Back in the "old" days, when the guy from the Electricity Board (as it was then known) came along to install the meter and connect or re-connect power, he would at least carry out a few basic tests: Check for ground on main ground busbar, insulation test line-to-neutral and L/N to ground, etc.

If these tests failed on he saw anything else considered dangerous, the utility had the right to refuse to connect power.

Now that the 200 different companies are run by the bean-counters instead of the engineers, they don't bother with any tests. Connect the meter, in goes the service fuse, and if it doesn't go bang, they pack up and leave.

Why should they bother? If there's 5A leakage flowing to earth, all the more profit for them!