I’ve waited patiently to hear Duke Power CEO James Rogers explain his Save-a-Watt program. How consumers would have incentives to save energy. Turns out that was never Save-a-Watt’s intention. Both Duke and the state Utilities Commission figure consumers are too dumb to do anything other than write checks. The size of which will be determined not by market forces, but by Jim Rogers and the Utilities Commission.
Worse the entire premise of NC’s current energy debate is how to incent Duke Power to do the things regulators and environmental activists want done. No consumers there either. As a result we are discussing a plan that would spread cost and risk to the broader public in the form of higher power bills while privatizing the profit for Duke. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the very definition of fascism.
Don’t cringe. Learn. We’ve seen the fascist leanings of what passes for our state government before. The eagerness to put corporate interests at the head of every line. But the Save-a-Watt program takes this to a new level. It explicitly would use state power to compel citizens to give more money — how much more is presently a state secret — to Jim Rogers and Duke Power. Duke Power then, per agreements with state regulators, would spend some amount of that money in ways state regulators favor. Either you see that this proposal is repugnant to any notion of open and limited government or you do not.
If Jim Rogers wants to draw up regulations to attempt to micro-manage the lives of his fellow citizens he is welcome to take a $80,000 job with some arm of state government. If he wishes to reap millions by selling a needed product to willing consumers, have at it. But to stride into Raleigh and declare that he intends to do both marks Rogers as a fascist archetype. The first step in averting this outcome is recognizing it.
