How worried are Texas’ electric companies that the Legislature might actually force them to compete for customers, which might then actually force them to cut prices? I got a flier in the mail from Reliant Energy offering me a $50 Target gift card for switching. It didn’t necessarily offer me lower rates (I read the fine print), but this may be the first marketing pitch I have received in a couple of years — and, coincidentally, at about the same time that even the die-hard free-market warriors in the Legislature have had enough.

There have been comments here before about how poorly electricity deregulation has worked, and it’s not news that we pay some of the highest rates in the country. Last fall, I interviewed a legislator (the conversation was off the record, so I need to be reasonably vague), and was told that deregulation was still the goal, but that it was becoming obvious that TXU, Reliant and their brethren were going to have to be coerced into competing. This member of the legislature was tired of getting phone calls from constituents, including and especially school districts with fixed budgets, about the price of electricity.

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This is the Texas Legislature, of course, so guessing what will happen requires more skill than I have. And TXU, which is a target of several pieces of legislation, has deep pockets and lots of friends in Austin. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if something happens this session to cut rates, at least by more than a Target gift card. So Reliant