Power costs more in deregulated areas, study says
The Texas Coalition of Cities for Utility Issues said its study found that people living in areas served by municipal power companies and co-operatives have the lowest electricity prices in the state.
"This report shows that Texans in many deregulated areas can shop around all they like, and still never find the deals available to ratepayers in Austin, San Antonio and elsewhere," TCCUI chairman Don Knight said in a story for the online edition of the Austin American-Statesman.
The coalition's study compared the lowest rates offered by the competitive electric providers serving North Texas as well as 22 municipally owned utilities, cooperatives and investor-owned utilities that operate outside competition. The study focused on rates from September.
Tom Stewart, a spokesman for TXU Energy, noted that some of the competitive electricity companies had dropped their prices since the survey was completed, The Dallas Morning News reported in its online edition.
Texas adopted an electric deregulation law in 1999.
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Ontario will not renew electricity deal with Quebec
TORONTO - The Ontario government does not plan to renew the Ontario-Quebec Electricity Trade Agreement, Radio-Canada is reporting.
The seven-year contract, which expires next year, aims to reduce Ontario's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by buying 2.3 Terawatt-hours of electricity from Quebec annually — that corresponds to about seven per cent of Hydro-Quebec's average annual exports.
The announcement comes as the provincially owned Quebec utility continues its legal battle over a plan to export power to Massachusetts.
The Ontario agreement has guaranteed a seasonal exchange of energy, since Quebec has a power surplus in summer, and the province's electricity needs increase in the winter.…
