Talk:Garland, Texas
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[edit] GP&L
The GP&L issue is addressed in the Utilities section using a verifiable source (newspaper article). The selection of statements that were presented in the History section had a clear derogatory implication in violation of Wikipedia:NPOV, and was also out-of-place in the History section. -- Mainstream Nerd 01:06, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] GP&L Prior Facts
It is inappropriate to delete facts without proper discussion....especially since the facts listed are supported by many verifiable sources. The Wikipedia "Neutral Point of View" policy states that articles should be written "representing fairly and without bias all significant views". Just because you do not like the facts does not mean that verifiable facts should be deleted since they represent a different point of view. The text in question is as follows:
As of April 2007, GPL cost data and consumer prices are not available to consumers, residents, or the general public. The city council reviews GPL data in secret meetings and does not make the data available. The Texas Public Utility Commission says GPL is unregulated. The United States Department of Energy says Texas electric utilities are unregulated by the US Government since Texas is the only state not connected to the national power grid. GPL claims to be non-profit, but they appear to be making hundreds of millions of dollars in profits that are unaccounted for. Texas Law [§402.902E] prohibits municipal electric utilities from using profits for any purpose other than to pay bonds; however, the Dallas County District Attorney's office says this law is unenforceable since the Texas Legislature did not provide any criminal or civil penalties for violation. According to the US Energy Information Administration statistics, GPL customers pay some of the highest rates for electricity in the United States.
The information and facts listed above are accurate. If you follow the link to the GP&L web site, you can view information in prior annual reports and their claim of being a "not for profit" organization. The article from the Dallas Morning News that you cite confirms that GP&L reports NET PROFITS that the city spends on other things. Unaudited data for 2006 reflect a $42 million net profit. If you follow the link to the US Department of Energy, you can view detailed spreadsheets of costs, revenue, and profits for electric energy producers in the US. If you follow the link provided for Texas Law §402.902E, you will see that municipalities are explicitly prohibited from spending profits on anything other than to finally pay off the bonds ($119 million per 2005 GP&L Annual Report). Please explain why you feel such facts should be deleted.
I have personally contacted and filed written complaints with the Dallas County District Attorney, Texas Attorney General, US Department of Justice, and the US Department of Energy but without meaningful resolution to the issue. A prosecutor in the Dallas County DA's office stated that although he agrees with my complaint, they cannot prosecute since the Texas legislature failed to attach criminal or civil penalties for violations of this law. I contacted and sent letters to Texas Representative Fred Hill and Texas Senator John Carona on this issue to correct the deficiency in Texas law.
I have been a resident of Garland for over 25 years and have no axe to grind other than stating the facts about the very high cost of electricity and GP&L "for profit" operation while claiming to be a "non-profit" entity. I am not employed by the city nor GP&L and have no other interest in this issue. It is my belief that these facts are useful for those who want to consider if they want to live in Garland. This information is also posted in other web forums to inform citizens regarding these facts.
In summary, I feel strongly that this point of view should be expressed in the Wikipedia article and have restored the text to the newly created utilities section. I do not object to moving the text from the history section. Readers should be allowed to see the facts and draw their own conclusions based on the data presented as required by the Wikipedia Neutral Point of View policy. It is my belief that Wikipedia policy is intended to require users to present only the facts and not editorial opinions or censored articles. -- User:Telecom_eng B.Sc., M.Sc. 05:00, 22 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Issues with the GP&L paragraph
Here's how I interpret the paragraph in question: "GP&L financially exploits its customers by using its non-regulated status, in collusion with the Garland city council, to make millions of dollars for Garland in violation of Texas law." (If this is not what you're trying to say, then I don't see how the statements in the paragraph are relevant.) Such a potentially defamatory view needs to be "attributed to a reliable published source" as explained in WP:AFAQ. It is not sufficient that the individual facts have attribution, but the argument as a whole needs attribution, per the "no original research" policy (WP:NOR):
Editors often make the mistake of thinking that if A is published by a reliable source, and B is published by a reliable source, then A and B can be joined together in an article in order to advance position C. However, this would be an example of a new synthesis of published material serving to advance a position, and as such it would constitute original research. "A and B, therefore C" is acceptable only if a reliable source has published this argument in relation to the topic of the article.
So I looked for such an article (hoping to find something like "Garland Residents Upset by GP&L's Illegal Exploitation"), and the closest I came up with was what I cited in the text I recently added. However, I did come across some information related to the individual statements in the paragraph:
- Unavailable cost/price data: Consumer prices for GP&L (at least for some levels of service) appear to be on their website. The GP&L budget, available on the city's website, looks pretty detailed to my untrained eye [1]. The city's website also has two versions of a presentation discussing the impact on customer rates of their subsidizing the city's general fund [2].
- Secret meetings: Though a few GP&L topics are restricted to "closed-door" meetings, prior notices of those meetings are given, so "secret" is not a proper description for the meetings. Texas law specifically authorizes closed-door meetings for public utilities to discuss certain issues, GC 551.086 [3].
- Unregulated: GP&L is not unregulated, it is regulated by the City of Garland. I don't see the relevance of the US DOE fact, because I don't think the DOE regulates the rates of any public utilities.
- Prohibited use of profits: The statement is not an accurate summary of Texas law. There are a lot of "loopholes". The cited law (LCG 402.902e) applies only to a "utility system governed by a board of trustees" per LCG 402.121, which (I think) is different from a utility advisory board. Another statute covers all municipal utilities, GC 1502.058 [4], which closes with the phrase "until the debt secured by the revenue is finally paid." That is, bonds that have been issued on the basis of utility revenue must be paid off first. Even there, there is an exception clause (c) which says it doesn't apply if "provided by the proceedings authorizing the issuance of public securities", that is, if it was disclosed that revenue may be used for the general fund when the bonds were issued. The subsequent section, 1502.059, mentions conditions where "...a municipality and its officers and utility trustees may transfer to the municipality’s general fund and may use for general or special purposes revenue of any municipally owned utility system...". In short, municipal utilities can sometimes transfer revenues to the general fund, and in the absence of a public legal ruling on this complex issue, it could be libelous to imply in Wikipedia that GP&L is acting illegally.
- Highest rates: "In the US" is not a fair standard to judge if a particular company is overcharging, since average electricity prices vary widely by state, and even by region within a state. For the North Texas area, GP&L's residential rate of 11.62 cents per kWH is among the lowest [5]. Even using a national comparison, there are 13 states with an average rate higher than 11.62 [6], which doesn't match with the phrase "some of the highest rates".
In summary, it's my judgment that the paragraph contains several individual statements that are misleading, and that the view presented by the paragraph as a whole needs to be attributed to a reputable published source. If these faults can't be corrected, removal is justified. -- Mainstream Nerd 01:25, 24 April 2007 (UTC)