Legislators Need Context For A Rate Increase
Rep. Tom Sloan was elected to his 12th term in the Kansas House of Representatives. He serves on DOE, FCC, and EPA advisory committees and has hosted FERC Commissioners in Kansas. He focuses on energy, telecommunications, and water policy interactions in Kansas and nationally.
The editor-in-chief of this publication sends out daily messages about the value and low cost of electricity. But are those messages received and understood by public utility commissioners and elected officials?
Cost is an absolute, but value is dependent on the person’s perspective. Something of value to me – for example, a newborn lamb on our farm – probably is not as valuable to you. Similarly, a well-played round of golf may have high value to you, but as a non-golfer, it has little relevance or value to me.
The value of electricity is very high, because it largely determines how comfortable we are indoors, whether our food is preserved, and whether we have jobs. Our ability to communicate using devices, our health and safety, and increasingly our ability to fuel electric vehicles are dependent on electricity.
As a state legislator attuned to the realities of the utility business, I share your struggles to convey this message: that the value of electricity transcends its cost, but that the cost must be paid.
Most public officials do not understand or consider risks associated with the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity to the end user.