1. Power companies get a monopoly by owning the power lines. Since installing powerlines is a capital intensive (expensive) activity with high maintenance costs and low rate of return, few companies want to build them. Once one company has built lines, other companies are effectively locked out.
   
   Power lines should, IMO, be classed as infrastruture and thus paid for, owned and run by local or national government. Note that power generation and sales are not infrastructure and are probably best handled by private enterprise.
   
   Note also that trees grow to meet the powerlines, stupid trees.
     posted by Gregory at 11:30:08 PM on September 29, 2004  
2. Actually, until very recently, most power companies were granted official monopolies by local and state governments. Cable companies still work that way in some places, with a municipality deciding on one company to permit.
   
   America is far from immune to socialism.
     posted by Eric the .5b at 01:23:24 PM on October 04, 2004