No Power to the People

In Maryland this week, BG&E (the big electrical conglomerate) has said they may be turning off power to 70,000 customers for non-payment.  The Bluefield Daily Telegraph did a lengthy piece about area residents who’ve had their power turned off and how they are coping with the lifestyle changes that ensued.  With the way the rates keep climbing, it’s only a matter of time before this becomes a critical issue.

No, this doesn’t mean I’m going to advocate that the gubmint do something to help us with our electric rates or subsidize or control our power use. Electric companies have enormous costs to keep operations going, and they are just trying to pass those costs along to the users as any business would.  The real problem is that the value of our money is declining rapidly.

Since most of us are not in a position to do much about the economic downturn, we are all facing a time when we have to choose the services we can afford. This is happening at a town and county and state level as well. The future doesn’t paint a very pretty picture, sad to say. All the ranting in the world won’t change a collapsing currency or a decline in services or income.  We are all going to have to get used to living on less and living WITH less.  That is going to tax our creative energies in ways we never imagined just ten years ago.