Instead of subsidizing our way to blackouts, let’s return to prizing reliability and affordability

“It is error alone which needs the support of government,” Thomas Jefferson once observed. “Truth can stand by itself.”

I’ve always thought Jefferson’s observation could describe government playing favorites among consumer choices. A product that works effectively and efficiently at a good price doesn’t need government to support it. It can stand by itself. But when government uses incentives, disincentives, and regulations to “transition” people away from a product, people are left worse off, and the economy suffers.