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Escalating Energy Costs to be Paid by Taxpayers?

by George Baumler

  The local television news program featured a distraught lady hard pressed to pay a gas and light bill of over one thousand dollars.  A thousand bucks!  How did she run up that kind of residential bill in just one month?  Was she heating all outdoors?  The Louisville Board of Aldermen are questioning the local utility company about the increasing costs, and other state and local officials, jealous of California’s predicament, are trying their very best to place the burden of paying the higher energy bills of those in need upon the taxpayers of Kentucky.  The predictable results of price controls and market interference are all but lost on the magnanimous liberals who wish to help the needy using the taxpayers’ money.

  Back to our distraught woman, who doesn’t have enough money to pay her bill, how does one run up that sort of energy bill assuming one’s home has the windows shut while the furnace is running?  If the taxpayers bail out this woman and others, what will be their motivation in the future to conserve energy?  Will Kentucky follow California and decide how utility companies will contract for fuel?  How will conservation be encouraged if taxpayers end up subsidizing fuel costs?  If market forces are ignored will the government end up nationalizing bankrupt utility companies?  Will the lady facing the high utility bill be motivated to conserve energy, therefore lowering her bill if taxpayers pay it for her? 

  There are some common sense measures that anyone can take to lower their energy consumption.  First close the windows (if a window is broken have it repaired immediately); close storm windows and doors.  This will cut down on those drafts as well as lowering fuel bills.  Turn down that thermostat to a setting that is livable, not tropical.  Closing heating vents and doors to rooms not being used such as a spare bedroom or other rooms that you really don’t need heated will also reduce your energy needs.  (Always keep some heat in kitchens and baths to protect plumbing.)  Heating the room that you’re actually in instead of the whole house will save substantially on energy usage.  Heavy curtains or drapes actually prevent some heat from escaping out the windows.  Turn off lights, TVs, radios and appliances when you’re not using them.  To most folks, these seem like ordinary steps to conserve; that’s why most folks don’t get thousand dollar utility bills.  There are other steps to take, such as weather striping and caulking, but the measures mentioned really don’t require any skill or special mechanical talent, so anyone could use them.  Energy is getting more expensive, and letting market forces determine the costs is the best way to encourage conservation.  A taxpayer bailout will only encourage waste and more government intervention in our lives and pocketbooks.