Fayette student wins EMC contest
What are the possible effects of deregulation of the electric utility industry, in regard to consumers and the economy of Georgia?
That's the subject Coweta-Fayette EMC asked students across its service area to research and about which to write an essay; they were competing for an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, DC, and only two of them would win.
"I,m always amazed at the depth of understanding these young people manage to get across in their essays." commented Mary Ann Bell, the EMC,s Public Relations Director and the person who has coordinated the competition for years.
This year, she offered the title, "Restructuring Georgia's Electric Utility Industry: possible effects on the consumer and the state,s economy."
Each year, local high school English teachers promote the competition to students. This year's winner from Fayette County, Sibusiso Ngubeni, is a junior who was encouraged by Becky Lewis, English teacher at Fayette County High School.
Tracing industry deregulation to its start in 1978 with restructuring of airlines, he concluded that, "...if we have learned any lessons from the deregulation of the airlines industry, the telecommunications industry, the natural gas industry and from the electric utility industry of the states that have already undertaken this path, the lesson is that restructuring requires a comprehensive plan."
Citing problems such as loss of quality and safety, explosive growth of marketers (many of which were under qualified), he went on to say that consumers had more choices, but at great cost in the long run.
California's "nightmare" experience with deregulation of the electric utility industry - still ongoing, says Ngubeni has affected the state's economy, residents and private stockholders.
Focusing again on his home state, the young man noted that until now, consumers hadn't put much thought into how their electricity was delivered.
However, he said, our utility companies have put much effort and investment into making sure that power was as reasonable as possible, reliable and convenient.
Concluding that Georgia isn,t ready for this "confusion" [deregulation], he went on to say that, "After all, we are Southerners, and we 'don,t fix what ain,t broke."
Newnan High School junior Jameson Linville's English teacher, Barbara Landreth, was proud of her student, who succinctly outlined his own opinion from researching the history of deregulation.
While he opined that in the past, "Deregulation affected prices, service quality and innovation in these industries, mostly positively," he also noted that two broad problems could arise here in Georgia: cherry picking and stranded costs. Cherry picking, he explained, is when a utility company serves (hand-picking) only the prime accounts like large industrial companies, which gives premium pricing to urban consumers, but leaves rural customers to foot the bill when they receive significant rate increases.
Stranded costs are the investments regularly made by utility companies as they predict and plan for future power needs needs that may not evolve under competition.
Much debate has focused on how those investments would be repaid, and by whom.
"Measures will need to be taken to ensure even, fair competition for all customers," said Linville, making note of California's debacle where he says, "The crisis is blamed on high demand, high wholesale costs, and tight supply."
Citing needed research to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of deregulation, he believes that the move is inevitable and that "the appropriate route for maximum consumer and economic satisfaction must be taken."
"Impressive students like these give me a great deal of hope for America's future," stated EMC President & CEO Michael C. Whiteside, after reading this year's essays.
"Our hope is that they increase their leadership qualities and absorb as much information as possible while visiting our nation's capital.
The Washington Youth Tour has been a valuable experience for hundreds of students over the years."
President Lyndon Johnson began the Youth Tour in an effort to give students a close-up look at government and to spawn leadership.
Over 1,000 young people representing cooperatives from 26 states will converge on Washington, DC, giving them an opportunity to meet with state and national leaders, to exchange ideas and even to have some fun!
Prior to leaving for the trip, the students will learn about Georgia's 42 EMCs and the entire industry during a tour of the Georgia Electric Membership Corporation headquarters and Oglethorpe Power Corporation in Tucker.
Coweta-Fayette EMC provides electric power to members in Coweta, Fayette, Heard, Meriwether, and parts of South Fulton, Clayton and Spalding Counties. The EMC's subsidiary, Relyco, offers and manages a wide variety of services that are available to members and non-members, including home security and monitoring, pagers, installation of BOSE sound equipment and a Surge and Lightning Damage Protection Program. For more information about the EMC or any of the Relyco products and services, telephone 770.502.0226.
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