...Duke Energy, which is anchored in Charlotte.
Combined, they’ll serve more than 7 million customers, including most residents and businesses in North Carolina.
Otherwise known as a monopoly?
Rate cuts aren’t likely
The deal promises benefits, such as cost savings that can be passed to consumers.
Do the last two sentences contradict each other?
If there won't be rate cuts, what are the benefits?
If there won't be rate cuts, what are the benefits?
...Duke only promises efficiencies that can “mitigate the future rate increases we expect.”
Sometimes people mistake the way I talk
for what I am thinking.
Idi Amin
for what I am thinking.
Idi Amin
...In Duke’s current service areas, customers should watch for signs that this equalization will result in Duke rates rising to meet falling Progress rates somewhere in the middle.
Since the long-term trend for prices is up,
the equalization (good for Progress customers, bad for Duke customers),
will be hidden by higher prices for all customers.
Peter Schwarz
Professor of Economics at UNC Charlotte
the equalization (good for Progress customers, bad for Duke customers),
will be hidden by higher prices for all customers.
Peter Schwarz
Professor of Economics at UNC Charlotte
Everyone should gain from this deal, or it’s not worth doing.
Is what you think others think,
what they may be thinking,
or what they and/or some others want you to think they’re thinking?
what they may be thinking,
or what they and/or some others want you to think they’re thinking?
...Some anxiety is felt in Raleigh, home city for Progress Energy. While a major administrative presence is likely to remain in the state capital, that’s not the same as a headquarters.
But keeping the corporate structure in-state is still a plus by any reckoning.
How is "keeping the corporate structure in-state" a plus for the laid off workers?
.
.
If another doesn’t say all they mean,
do they mean all they say?
do they mean all they say?
A down side to the merger, which can take a year to complete, will be a loss of jobs. Duke says it will eliminate duplicative operations but has not disclosed numbers.
“I could foresee an eventual 10-15 percent reduction in the combined work force,” UNC Charlotte economics professor Peter Schwarz, an expert on the energy industry, told the News & Record by e-mail.
The two companies employ about 30,000 workers in six states. Schwarz’s estimate would mean job cuts of 3,000 to 4,500 — not all in North Carolina.
Just mostly "duplicative operations"
located at both headquarters located in North Carolina?
4,500 mid-level jobs x about $70,000 salary = $315,000,000 lost income?
30% of $315,000,000 = $94,500,000 lost fed, state and local taxes?
If there's no new jobs, how many mortgages could default?
.
How could home prices be affected?
.
How much could property and other taxes have to increase on everyone else
to make up for the lost tax revenue?
Did the GN&R Editorial Board consider the increased taxation?
.
How much could property and other taxes have to increase on everyone else
to make up for the lost tax revenue?
Did the GN&R Editorial Board consider the increased taxation?
While no loss of jobs is welcome, there could be compensating benefits. Reliable, low-cost energy is attractive to businesses, Schwarz said. With Duke’s low rates, “industry should view the increased Duke coverage as a positive.”
How can there be "compensating benefits" if rates and taxes continue to rise?
Duke is an “excellent ally,” said Dan Lynch, president of the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance, because of its competitive rates and “extremely high reliability quotient ... I would think it’s going to be good for everybody,” he said of a possible merger.
Except for the fired workers and the increased taxes on everyone in North Carolina,
right Dan?
Can some promoting erroneous concepts
believe self-created illusions?
right Dan?
Can some promoting erroneous concepts
believe self-created illusions?
Greater resources
...Duke should continue to create incentives for customers to reduce consumption through weatherization, use of energy-efficient appliances and other advances.
Thank goodness
An energy hub
With this merger, North Carolina can become an energy hub — especially if Duke steps up its commitment to develop wind, solar and bio fuel.
The power industry can remain a large employer in North Carolina, perhaps with fewer administrative jobs, but also with a greater emphasis on research and development.
Sometimes I wonder
whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on,
or by imbeciles who really mean it.
Mark Twain
whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on,
or by imbeciles who really mean it.
Mark Twain
Some uncertainties lie ahead. The deal must meet the approval of shareholders and state and federal regulators, who should guard the interests of consumers and the public.
Why would some utility company executives
want to work at state and federal regulatory agencies
and why would some retired regulators
want to work for the companies they regulated?
want to work at state and federal regulatory agencies
and why would some retired regulators
want to work for the companies they regulated?
If all concerns are addressed, this Duke power surge might benefit customers and energize North Carolina."
Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board
12 comments:
a monopoly ...exists when a specific individual or an enterprise has sufficient control over a particular product or service to determine significantly the terms on which other individuals shall have access to it.
Wiki
"Monopolists typically produce fewer goods and sell them at a higher price than under perfect competition, resulting in abnormal and sustained profit."
wiki
"A monopolist can change the price and quality of the product. He sells more quantities charging less price against the product in a highly elastic market and sells less quantities charging high price in a less elastic market."
wiki
The more business and state governments lay workers off, the fired ex-employees cut back on consumption spending.
This reduction in spending causes output to fall further and leads to more workers losing their jobs, which leads to further reductions in spending and output.
Why would the Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board advocate for slower economic growth and fewer overall jobs?
If the current workers are eligable for other jobs in the company before new applicants entering the work force, why would the Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board advocate against more jobs for recent college graduates?
If the layoffs = 4,500, and there is a multiplier effect of those ex-workers not buying goods and services in thier communities, why would the Greensboro News & Record Editorial Board advocate for what could be more than 10,000 lost jobs in total from the merger?
If lost jobs creates more lost jobs, all those numbers above must also be multiplied higher.
"Everyone should gain from this deal, or it’s not worth doing."
"A down side to the merger, which can take a year to complete, will be a loss of jobs."
Does "everyone" include everyone?
Total contradiction.
Was the Editorial Board told to write this carp?
"Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position.
As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda. Propaganda can be used as a form of political warfare."
wiki
"Propaganda is generally an appeal to emotion, not intellect. It shares techniques with advertising and public relations, each of which can be thought of as propaganda that promotes a commercial product or shapes the perception of an organization, person, or brand. In post-World War II usage the word "propaganda" more typically refers to political or nationalist uses of these techniques or to the promotion of a set of ideas, since the term had gained a pejorative meaning. The refusal phenomenon was eventually to be seen in politics itself by the substitution of "political marketing" and other designations for "political propaganda"."
"Journalistic theory generally holds that news items should be objective, giving the reader an accurate background and analysis of the subject at hand. On the other hand, advertisements evolved from the traditional commercial advertisements to include also a new type in the form of paid articles or broadcasts disguised as news. These generally present an issue in a very subjective and often misleading light, primarily meant to persuade rather than inform. Normally they use only subtle propaganda techniques and not the more obvious ones used in traditional commercial advertisements. If the reader believes that a paid advertisement is in fact a news item, the message the advertiser is trying to communicate will be more easily "believed" or "internalized".
Such advertisements are considered obvious examples of "covert" propaganda because they take on the appearance of objective information rather than the appearance of propaganda, which is misleading. "
"The propagandist seeks to change the way people understand an issue or situation for the purpose of changing their actions and expectations in ways that are desirable to the interest group. Propaganda, in this sense, serves as a corollary to censorship in which the same purpose is achieved, not by filling people's minds with approved information, but by preventing people from being confronted with opposing points of view. What sets propaganda apart from other forms of advocacy is the willingness of the propagandist to change people's understanding through deception and confusion rather than persuasion and understanding."
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