WI PSC : Another ELECTRIC break for Elites

I have wondered for a long time why "big" corporations/companies generally pay less for energy/electricity per unit consumed.  I thought small businesses were the star of job growth.  Now it seems that Wisconsin cannot grow jobs without giving the "biggies" more breaks and making the consumers (sometimes called citizens, ruralies, urbanites, suburbanites) pay more per unit.

If you notice from this article from the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal ...

Big energy users get rate increase breaks - at other businesses, homeowners' expense

The move is tied to Gov. Scott Walker's job-creation goals, according to Phil Montgomery, Public Service Commission chairman. ... [Prove it... editor]

Big users get discounts

Those discounts originated from a 2005 law that capped how much the largest energy users have to pay to support Wisconsin's Focus on Energy program, which provides energy-efficiency incentives and funds for renewable energy projects.

By the end of this year, those companies across the state will have paid at least $68 million less on their electricity bills since 2010 because a "temporary" cap that was written into the 2005 law remains in place.

The discount, totaling more than $18 million this year alone, means smaller businesses are paying more to make up the difference in order to fund Focus on Energy.

I remember from a college "Public Finance" course trying to objectively present reasons ...

• Rate of return for Utility investors needs to be supported
• Infrastructure is expensive and investors need to encouraged
• In exchange for reliable and universally availability of electricity the Utilities are regulated and have to justify their rates to a "public body" - so it is all ok!

I do not recall some consequences and behavior that also result being presented ...

• Small businesses have more difficulty competing vs larger counterparts
  
• Jobs are created at a slower rate if at all
• E. G., we have places in neighborhoods without access to grocery stores ... small grocery stores were saddled with higher operating costs and could not compete .... so they went out of business ... larger chains that moved in decided they needed a better rate of return (inspite of the electricity breaks) an moved out.

If large companies are so efficient why do they need breaks that reinforce their advantage over smaller enterprises?  They do NOT! 

The side bar in the above article indirectly provides another answer.  It compares electric rates across states (and Wisconsin appears to be in top third).   So what goes on?  Large corporations are able to use their resources to extract tax concessions from state and local governments by threatening to locate elsewhere.  In other words they use the "Divide and Conquer" technique made so recently memorable by our own Governor Walker to destroy and besmirch public workers.

OP- PRWatch - Caught on Tape: Walker Plans for a Single Party State

How do you stop these selfish, predatory practices ... I guess you give tax breaks and subsidize companies at the expense of the "real job creators".

 

WI 1848 Forward: WI #PSC : Another #ELECTRIC break for #Elites : #47% #99% #jobs #WiVote #wiUnion #Environment vs #1%

WI 1848 Forward: WI #PSC : Another #ELECTRIC break for #Elites : #47% #99% #jobs #wiUnion vs #1% #Koch #Hendricks