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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2021 – Crewe, VA
The Libertarian Party of Virginia Opposes Government Mandated Resources
CREWE – Some residents of Southside Virginia have been without power for over a week. Others that live a street away have had uninterrupted power service. The reason? Mandated power companies.
Regionally, Southside Electric Cooperative and Dominion Energy both provide electric services to residential neighborhoods. Due to government regulations and legislation, residents are forced with one provider instead of letting the free market decide.
This is wrong.
“The events of the last week in Texas and Southside Virginia have shown us that we now need open-access power and consumer electric choice.” said Joe Paschal, Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Virginia. “The current system in Southside, Virginia allows co-ops to buy surplus power from companies that produce power. They in turn sell it back to Virginia residents with a markup, so the users are paying for the same power 2 or 3 times.”
Holly Ward, the Communications Director for LPVA, said she has seen overwhelming responses recently from Virginians. “People are tired of the government mandating every aspect of their lives. The government shouldn’t be in a position where they can make authoritarian decisions how someone needs to live their life. That is a gross abuse of power – and Virginians are noticing.”
“Even worse, while CEOs are lining their pockets, most Co-Ops have not for profit status.” said Paschal. “They call us selfish for not wanting to continue to be stepped on.” he said.
Paschal, and his wife Tinisha met with CEO of Southside Electric Cooperative Jeff Edwards to advocate for impacted residents.
“We discussed why they haven’t reported the outages properly, but did not get a satisfactory answer.” Paschal explains. “We discussed shortcomings in the communication department and maintenance of infrastructure. When it came to financial accountability, he claims SEC has done their due diligence in their maintenance of infrastructure, but wouldn’t commit to any proof.
When asked about his peaceful protest, Paschal cut right to the chase. “Residents of Virginia have had to endure government overregulation long enough. Change starts here.”
The Libertarian Party of Virginia promotes individual liberty and property rights through peaceful assembly, education of the public and politicians, and running candidates for local, state, and federal offices.
Paschal sets the example as a candidate for House of Delegates District 61.
The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the United States, founded in 1971. Libertarians strongly oppose any government interference into their personal, family, and business decisions. We believe all Americans should be free to live their lives and pursue their interests as they see fit as long as they do no harm to another.
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Individuals quoted above may be contacted by members of the media, as follows:
Joe Paschal Joe.Paschal@LPVirginia.org
Holly Ward holly.ward@LPVirginia.org
