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Oh! A smooth ride ahead for the citizens of Alberta. Now the Deregulated Powah!
Alberta, Alberta, Alberta… The home of batshite crazy capitalist thinking and tomfoolery in general when it comes to fiscal policy (among many other things).
It is amazing to me that we are in such a mad rush to get back to the good ole’ days of being gouged by private utilities for what should be a public corporation. The Alberta Government has changed the rate structure in an attempt to scare and intimidate Albertans into signing long term contracts with private power companies, whose rates, of course, are higher than the current regulated rate.
I just laugh now when people start to whinge and complain about how unresponsive their government is to their demands. To make thinks perfectly clear, we do not have a democracy in Alberta, but rather a hepped up redneck Failarchy that believes, honest to god and jebus, that the only policies that are worth doing come solely from the right end of the political spectrum. And we (F’n) LOVE it here in Alberta as we continue to vote them in again and again.
The Calgary Herald has some interesting information about the power rates in Alberta:
“The concern stems from the regulated rate option changing in July to be fully based on short-term market prices, rather than a mix of short-and long-term contracts.”
Essentially, lets add instability into the price of power and see how many people we can scare into signing up with the private power companies. People should be up in arms, marching in the street, righteously pissed off with this sort of over-the-top pandering to the business class. But no, past a few irate letters to the local paper the Alberta sheep bleat on, blissfully happy with their Tory Kleptocracy.
Please notice the wonderful phrasing of what in short stands for “Bend Over Here Comes the Spiny Shaft of Capitalism.
“The intent that we expressed with this change is that this would give consumers a clearer picture of the market price of electricity,” Cummings said. “It gives them a clearer understanding of the cost of electricity so they can adjust their usage, and understand better when prices are high and can adjust accordingly.”
Boo! Aaaaaah! Quick run (don’t even think about walking you seniors and low income families) to the private sector to pay them more money for the same power you were getting before! Did you ever wonder who the Government of Alberta represents? If you are not incorporated Buck-O, it ain’t fracking you.
However there is a bit of bright side to the naked ratbaggery that is going on here.
“Consumers choosing to remain on the regulated rate could see more fluctuations in monthly bills, but, historically, electricity rates in Alberta have ranged between six cents and eight cents per kilowatt hour, Wachowich noted. And spikes in price are generally short-lived.”
So those who have more than two neurons to rub together and decide to stay on the regulated rate will be fine, but need to plan ahead accordingly for the minor fluctuations ahead. Crisis put on hold until the insipid clowns politicians that lead us decide we need to more directly fund the corporate elite become more competitive.
It will come down to this sooner or later. All the boots on the ground and drone strikes in the world will not magically solve the Afghanistan problem for the west. Unless we as the so called civilized nations of the West decide to turn Afghanistan into nuclear slag, achieving complete victory(?) will be impossible. A former British Commander in the Afghan theatre said:
“The head of the British Army says he believes talks with the Taliban should begin “pretty soon,” but that discussions shouldn’t lead insurgents to think they have an advantage.
Calling his position a “purely private view,” Gen. Sir David Richards told the BBC on Sunday that he didn’t know when talks could begin. But Richards, a former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, said, “There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be looking at that sort of thing pretty soon.”
About time, in my opinion. Invading Afghanistan was pure folly in the first place, as any student of history can tell you. Even the general is getting cold feet.:
“He said in any counter-insurgency campaign, there comes “a point [at] which you start to negotiate with each other.”
Yet, we went ahead with visions of protecting democracy and fighting terrorism dancing in our heads. Yet another great imperial army has more than met its match in Afghanistan. The sooner we leave the better.
bleatmop
Mystro
Dead Wild Roses 
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