Regulate Monopoly



Abstract

In alignment to deduce that a monopoly is 'harmful', there should be another market scheme which is preferable to monopoly so as to offer larger advantages to the public. A monopoly can thus be in evaluation to flawless competition. If the advantages of flawless affray outweigh the advantages of monopoly then a monopoly can be considered as 'harmful' since the buyers are not obtaining the greatest likely utility for their purchases.

Regulate Monopoly

Monopolies are admonished for their high charges, high earnings and insensitivity to the public. Some authorities thus, in the lightweight of these disputes, support principles pertaining to monopolies, in alignment to regulate their power supportive the public's interest.

Gulf Power Company's beginnings go back three-quarters of a century. The ball started rolling on Feb. 10, 1925, through the purchase of the Pensacola Electric Company by Southeastern Power and Light Company. Southeastern was a holding company which operated electric, gas and street railway systems in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. Later that year, on Oct. 29, Gulf Power Company was organized as a Southeastern subsidiary. On Feb. 6, 1926, Gulf Power Company became an actual operating public utility as it acquired the Chipley Light and Power Company. Later that year, the Pensacola Electric Company which had been rescued from receivership by the holding company was merged into Gulf Power. (Thierer, 2009)

Early generation of electricity came from at least 20 scattered, isolated and individually operating units. These generators had been designed to supply power for ice plants, lumber yards and electric transit systems and were not known for their reliability. Despite the depressed economic condition of Northwest Florida, a move toward modernization was virtually forced upon Gulf Power. The hurricane of Sept. 6, 1926, with 120 mph winds, ripped out nearly 4,000 rotting power poles. To make matters worse, the storm surge of nine feet above normal put out the fires in the old downtown Pensacola generating plant. More than 600 workers from sister companies restored service with a more modern system in a mere 65 days. By year's end, a 110,000 volt transmission line had been erected from the Alabama/Florida line on the north, into Pensacola. The old Allis-Chalmers steam turbine-generator was placed on standby, ending the era of local power generation. (Train, 2009)

Gulf Power relied on imported energy for the next 39 years, even as customer numbers rose from the 7,366 inherited in 1926, to more than 40,000 in the mid 1940s. Finally, in 1945, after years of delay brought about by war shortages, the first unit at the "Crist Steam Plant" in Pensacola went online. The 22-megawatt unit enabled the company to take its first giant step toward generating self-sufficiency.

From its early beginnings, Gulf Power has grown to serve more than 395,000 customers across the Florida Panhandle. As during the early years, the company prides itself on rates that are the lowest in Florida and among the lowest in the nation.

If the government weighs up the cost and advantages of ' monopoly' and concludes that they are in detail ...