Black & Veatch Releases Results of 2008 U.S. Electric Utilities Survey - Black & Veatch, a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company, today released the results of its third annual "Strategic Directions in the Electric Utility Industry" survey showing system reliability, aging workforce and infrastructure among the top concerns.

The fact is that Utilities have been the subject of political debates every where for long.,so are the energy issues.

No utility can run without some political linkage and its independent functioning is only on paper.The current rises in electricity and energy bills speaks volumes about the handling of energy issues by politicians and administraive personnel.How much of these decisions are taken by Engineers conversant with the operations?

For example no utility has succeded in controlling theft of energy once it starts and if it is some where politically supported.

Who pays for all this - the consumer that is honest in payments!

Regulatory bodies normnally award price rises without ever exploring whether the operations are effecient or not.

These decisions are taken by politicians and economists and not Engineers. At best they could be MBA graduates.

Unless and until the charges are passed on to those who know the art of running the utility effeciently - it is not going to be easy  to manage energy issues. The politician dealing with energy issues must be qualified in the subject. It is techno-economic decision coupled with politics.Not Political alone!