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[quote user="Paul Milenkovic"] [quote][/quote]Another choice is to go down the "public accomodation" route....   When you go into the electric utility business, there are regulations that you need to follow.... you have to maintain the wires to Paul Milenkovic's house and charge him the same rates as other residential customers.  If Paul Milenkovic goes out and buys energy-saving appliances and reduces his electric usage to below where you think it doesn't pay to supply him with electricity, you don't get to disconnect his house and say, "Sorry pal, get yourself a generator or an off-grid solar panel and battery system."  [/quote]Having spent most of my working life in the electric and gas utility business, your comment on the service requirements of the utility business caught my attention.  You're correct!  An electric utility is required to serve everyone in its service area who meets the service standards.  Your analysis, however, missed an important point.  The utility is not required to provide service to customers who will not pay the full cost for it.  If they default on payment for the service, they are disconnected.  And they are not reconnected until they pay up, including a disconnect and reconnect fee.  Usually the disconnect rules, at least in Texas, prevent the company from throwing nonperforming customers into unwarranted hardship.  For example, it cannot disconnect a customer during an extreme heat or cold wave.  But as soon as the weather mitigates, the disconnection process can proceed.Most states have a program to help low income customers pay for their electric and gas utility service.  They have to show that they do not have the funds to pay for their service.Passenger rail service should be placed on the same footing.  Those who use it should pay the price (fare) necessary to cover the cost of the service.  Then, if society decides it is a vital service, at least in select areas, the government could help low income people who have a need to travel by rail pay for it.
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