Some blame also resides with state legislators in both parties who approved the deal in the first place. Coupled with other business tax decreases, this bit of largesse has, incredibly, left the state poor-mouthing itself when state mass transit systems request that their state subsidies not drop while the state is earning record tax revenue. The irony is that if deregulating the electricity market means higher bus fares, conservatives will use that as a pretext for opening up public transit to private enterprise, too. Even in recent years, when the Port Authority has enjoyed constant fares, a lack of labor strife, and steadily growing ridership, there have been mutterings about how we'd all be better off if the system were privatized. So if rates do go up, expect conservatives to argue the solution to the problems deregulation has wreaked on the system will be more deregulation.
Conservatives are, after all, fond of decrying the unintended consequences of government regulation.
But as the state's experience with electricity deregulation shows, lifting those regulations can have unintended consequences as well. Buying electricity from these companies costs a little more, sure, but then again, so did buying nuclear power from Duquesne Light. Still, it's also true that deregulation has cost Pittsburgh a Fortune 500 company, CNG, which has lost 175 local employees after being purchased by Virginia-based Dominion Resources. And while the legislature managed to reduce the bills we pay to our utilities, it did so partly by sticking us with the bill we foot as taxpayers. Talk about a dysfunctional relationship.