It’s time to regulate electric cooperatives

Why do we continue to allow 20 unregulated monopolies run by boards of directors who seem to think this is a career to operate in this state and do as they please? It seems to me the electric cooperatives have served their original purpose and should go away.

At a minimum, they should be combined into one cooperative with one board of directors and one management group instead of 20 separate ones with exorbitant expenses. Ideally they should be sold off to commercial companies that can provide the same services at comparable prices and are strictly regulated.

If these monopolies remain, they need to be regulated by a public agency and not allowed to do as they please. This seems like an opportune time to make some drastic changes in the way electricity is provided in this state. How many more screw-ups does it take before the Legislature does something?

Corporate America has hurt Fairfield

Fairfield County is located less than an hour north of Columbia, a little more than an hour south of Charlotte. It is in easy reach from I-77 and I-26. It has a downtown, farmland and beautiful rolling hills. It has a bunch of kind, loving people. County leaders are trying to develop an industrial base and bring jobs to the people.

The county has invested in its educational system and its infrastructure. It has recruited major industries such as Mack Trucks, mining and SCANA. But they all left Fairfield County at the altar. Not only has the county lost major industries, it also lost retail businesses such as Wal-Mart and fast food restaurants.

The people of Fairfield County have been let down just like those in so many areas who put their faith in a corporation, make offers to lure it with tax and infrastructure benefits, then eventually find themselves stuck with the bills for the improvements that were made. Counties must learn to write agreements that will protect themselves from being left holding the bag when companies receive incentives and don’t deliver.

The State publishes a cross section of the letters we receive from South Carolinians in order to provide a forum for our community and also to allow our community to get a good look at itself, for good or bad. The letters represent the views of the letter writers, not necessarily of The State.