It recently got a lot faster, which is nice, but I'd happily pay $30/month instead for a small fraction of the bandwidth. But I can't.
I wouldn't qualify for the hypothetical state enforced $15 option anyway.
I've lived in over 15 different places in the US, and I have never, ever had more than 1 option for power provider.
>I've lived in over 15 different places in the US, and I have never, ever had more than 1 option for power provider.
In NYC, Con Edison[0] delivers power to customers. It also generates power, but other power generation companies share their delivery infrastructure in NYC.
As such, there are at least half a dozen folks I can buy my power from. But all of it is delivered by Con Edison -- which, by the way, charges more for delivery than it does for the power itself.
This may well be different from other places in the US/world, but that's how it is here.
N.B.: I too, have only two choices (spectrum and RCN) for broadband where I live, but (as I mentioned) at least half a dozen power providers.
Edit: Added the missing link
In Finland there was local monopoly for delivery and power could be bought from numerous companies. I just checked offers for my old place and I could choose between 250 different products, some from same companies (e.g. fixed term/permanent, guaranteed wind power, market rate). In there you would get separate bill from your power company rather than it being handled by the local delivery company.
An Introductory Guide to Electricity Markets regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: https://www.ferc.gov/introductory-guide-electricity-markets-...
Deregulation and competition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_of_the_Unit...
A combination of some napkin math and 2020 Census data suggests that ~35% of the US population lives in a state that the above article declares to be "fully deregulated".
It’s more common in gas service in my experience than in electric.
Personally I have 10+ choices for gas supplier, 2 choices for buried internet (eg excluding Starlink, etc), and 1 choice for power (co-op)
Why limit yourself to cable internet in 2024? Cellular home internet is widely available and fast.
https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/cellular-home-internet-ov...
https://www.usnews.com/360-reviews/services/internet-provide...
"choices for power providers" in this context is probably the choice of the company that generates your electricity, not the company that delivers those electrons to your house. Given how the electricity grid works, the exact electrons you're getting might not even be related to the company you're supposedly buying power from. In this respect the electricity provider can't really be compared to an ISP.