Texas, the biggest electricity consumer in the U.S., faces a shortage of power to fuel its growing economy that may force the most extensive overhaul of the state’s competitive market since deregulation in 2002.
Texas utility commissioners and grid operators are studying whether to allow the nation’s highest peak wholesale power prices to triple, part of a bid to encourage power-plant construction and avoid blackouts as early as 2014.
Falling natural-gas prices exposed a flaw in deregulated electricity markets for Texas and 12 other states that rely on the competitive model. Wholesale power prices, tied to the cost of gas, have fallen more than 30 percent since 2008, making generators reluctant to invest billions in new plants that would be subject to price swings and uncertain returns.
“This issue is what we call in the business the ‘missing money problem,’” said Shmuel Oren, an engineering professor at the University of California in Berkeley, who helped advise Texas on deregulating its market. “Prices of electricity are not high enough to pay for the fuel and also cover the investment in generation capacity. Business people are looking at this and they’re deciding it is not a profitable business.”
In regulated markets, state officials determine power prices, shielding consumers from rate spikes while ensuring utilities a certain level of profit for maintenance and construction projects. A deregulated market like Texas follows a competitive model, allowing supply and demand to set prices as producers and sellers vie for customers.
Not Profitable
A deregulated market requires companies to be more efficient to maximize profits while keeping prices competitive enough to win customers. It also makes it harder for generators to justify building new plants that may not be profitable for many years.
Deregulated markets New Jersey and Maryland have offered subsidies to power producers to jump-start new projects. PJM Interconnection LLC, the coordinator of wholesale electricity supplies in 13 states from Virginia to Illinois, holds capacity auctions to set prices for projected demand three years in advance to assure generators enough revenue to help finance building.
Texas so far is meeting growing demand with a market-driven approach that uses higher prices to force consumers to conserve and, in theory, spurs generators to finance new plants. Prices are raised during times of peak demand, such as hot summer days, so that generators can make more money to compensate for lower prices the rest of the year.
Bills Rising
Energy Future Holdings Corp., NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) and Calpine Corp. (CPN), the state’s largest power generators, would benefit from the higher prices. Critics say Texas is setting up consumers for skyrocketing power bills without any assurances that plants will actually be built.
In 2006, the Public Utility Commission of Texas raised its cap on wholesale power prices to $3,000 a megawatt hour. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which doesn’t have oversight of the state’s grid operator, caps pricing in other parts of the country at $1,000 a megawatt hour.
Last year, power prices touched $3,000 a megawatt for a total of 28.5 hours, mostly amid extreme weather conditions in August and February, said Daniel Jones, vice president of Potomac Economics Ltd. in Austin, Texas, the company that serves as the state grid’s independent market monitor.
“It’s more than we had in prior years,” he said.
Tripling Prices
To attract new power plants, state regulators have proposed raising the maximum price Texas generators can charge during periods of heaviest demand to $4,500 a megawatt-hour as of Aug. 1 and to $9,000 a megawatt hour by 2015.
Power shortages have become a greater concern in Texas as the state’s economic growth outpaced the nation’s.
As soon as 2014, the amount of electricity available during hours when demand is highest, such as a hot midsummer afternoon when air conditioners are working hardest, may fall to a level that makes Texas more vulnerable to widespread power disruptions, according a May 22 report by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s grid operator.
The state will need to add about 20,000 megawatts of power- plant capacity, the equivalent of 10 major coal or nuclear stations, to keep up with demand over the next decade, Samuel Brothwell, an analyst for Bloomberg Industries, said in an April 27 report. Texas only has one major power project under construction, a 1,000-megawatt coal plant, he said. Calpine is planning to add 520 megawatts of gas-fired capacity by 2014.
EPA Rule
Generators may be forced to close some plants that can’t meet new pollution limits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Warren Lasher, director of system planning at ERCOT, said on May 25.
The state has two choices: raise prices high enough that generators will determine it’s safe to build, or change to a model such as that used by PJM, which sets prices for needed power years in advance, said Oren, the Berkeley professor.
He expects Texas to hew to its model of paying for power only as its generated, which means the state will need to raise prices.
Brattle Group Inc., in a report commissioned by Ercot, said the state’s market structure was “only marginally riskier than energy-and-capacity markets,” such as PJM.
‘More Volatility’
Raising the price cap to $9,000 a megawatt-hour won’t be sufficient to end the threat of rolling blackouts, according to the report released today. Brattle Group said boosting the maximum price would give the state a reserve margin of 10 percent above peak demand, less than the 13.75 percent reserve margin federal regulators estimate ERCOT needs to avoid rolling blackouts during extreme weather.
“If they want an energy-only market, they’re going to have more volatility, understandably, and they may not get the reserve margins they want,” Paul Patterson, an analyst at Glenrock Associates LLC in New York, said in a phone interview today. “They may have more reliability issues.”
Texas will review the Brattle Group report before deciding on a course of action, including how high to raise prices, said Terry Hadley, a spokesman for the Public Utility Commission, said.
NRG Energy, the second largest generator owner in Texas, can’t attract financing to build in the state at current price levels, said John Ragan, president of the company’s Gulf Coast region.
‘Getting Close’
“The market signals we see do not support a return on an investment that makes sense,” Ragan said in a telephone interview. “We are getting close, but are not there right now.”
The state’s fourth-largest retail electricity provider, PNM Resources Inc. (PNM), based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, decided to jettison its competitive business in Texas after five years because of the “volatility, uncertainty of energy prices,” Charles Eldred, PNM’s chief financial officer, said in a May 23 interview at Bloomberg’s offices in New York.
Consumer advocates and lawmakers in Texas including State Representative Sylvester Turner worry that home electricity bills could soar, especially since the state hasn’t studied the repercussions of higher wholesale power prices on end users, said Turner, a Democrat.
“We need to be looking at all possibilities before we start throwing money at generators,” said Geoffrey Gay, an attorney who represents the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power, a group of more than 150 cities that buys power for government use.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Chediak in San Francisco at mchediak@bloomberg.net; Julie Johnsson in Chicago at jjohnsson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Susan Warren at susanwarren@bloomberg.net
Texas May Triple Power Prices To Keep Lights On Amid Shortages
Livestock graze near the Fayette Power Project coal-burning electricity generators near La Grange, Texas. Photo: F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg
Livestock graze near the Fayette Power Project coal-burning electricity generators near La Grange, Texas. Photo: F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg
Gold Price Jump Wipes Out Week's Loss After Disappointing U.S. Nonfarms Report - marketoracle.co.uk
By: Ben_Traynor
WHOLESALE MARKET prices to Buy Gold jumped to $1589 per ounce on Friday, immediately after the release of worse-than-expected US nonfarm jobs data.
The US economy added 69,000 nonagricultural private sector jobs in May, according to official data published Friday, compared with analysts' forecasts for 150,000.
The US unemployment rate meantime ticked higher to 8.2% - up from 8.1% in April.
Gold's jump wiped out its losses for the week. By Friday afternoon in London, prices to Buy Gold looked set for a 0.6% gain on where they started the week.
Silver also spiked higher following the US jobs news, climbing to $28.14 per ounce – though this was still 1.4% down on the week.
"The larger trend [however] remains bearish," says technical analyst Russell Browne at bullion bank Scotia Mocatta.
A day earlier, gold's final London Fix of May 2012 was down 5.6% on April's last Fix – the third monthly fall in a row by Gold Fix prices. Spot Gold meantime – which back on February 29 fell by $100 an ounce after the PM Fix – ended May by making fourth straight monthly loss in Dollar terms.
By London Fix prices, gold has not fallen four months in a row since summer 1999.
In contrast with gold, European stock markets fell following the nonfarms release, extending their losses from Friday morning's trading.
Earlier in the day, German 10-year Bund yields fell to a fresh all-time low below 1.15%, while on the currency markets the Euro sank to its lowest level against the Dollar since June 2010.
Spain's banking system meantime saw €97 billion of capital leave the country in the first three months of 2012, according to figures published Thursday evening by the Spanish central bank. The Spanish government, which this week saw its implied 10-Year borrowing costs breach 6.7% for the first time since November, is trying to raise €19 billion to rescue nationalized lender Bankia.
The International Monetary Fund yesterday denied rumors that Spain's government has approached it for a bailout.
Over in Ireland, votes were being counted Friday following yesterday's referendum on whether or not to ratify the European Union's new fiscal treaty, which would impose limits of government borrowing.
"We are very, very confident [of a 'Yes' vote]," said Lucinda Creighton, Ireland's European affairs minister.
Press reports suggest around half of those eligible to vote in the referendum actually did so.
In Greece meantime, the biggest pro-bailout party New Democracy leads second place Syriza in the opinion polls, with just over a fortnight to go until the June 17 elections, news agency Bloomberg reports.
Syriza's leader Alexis Tsipras said Friday that the bailout agreement is a failure, reiterating that Syriza would reverse some of the Greek government reforms if elected, including privatizations and cuts to public sector wages.
"The [bailout] memorandum equals a return to the Drachma," Tsipras added.
The Eurozone's purchasing manager's index for manufacturing, a survey indicator of whether the sector is expanding or contracting, fell from 45.9 in April to 45.1 last month, figures published Friday show. A PMI above 50 indicates sector expansion.
Germany's PMI meantime fell to 45.2 in May – down from 46.2 a month earlier.
The Eurozone's unemployment rate meantime remained at 11.0%.
On the currency markets, the Euro fell to a two-year low against the Dollar Friday morning, remaining below $1.24.
European Central Bank president Mario Draghi warned Thursday that the current Eurozone structure is "unsustainable".
"At the moment, Europe and downside risks to the Euro are the problem for gold," says Michael Lewis, head of commodities research at Deutsche Bank.
"Dollar strength is going to be the big problem over the next few weeks."
The US Dollar Index, which measures the currency's strength against a basket of other currencies, hit its highest level since August 2010 this morning.
Here in the UK, manufacturing activity fell into contraction last month. May's manufacturing PMI was 45.9, compared to 50.2 in April. The consensus forecast among analysts ahead of Friday's PMI publication was for a figure just below 50.
The disappointing UK PMI figure "has increased dramatically the likelihood of the [Bank of England] announcing more quantitative easing next Thursday," reckons Deutsche Bank's chief UK economist George Buckley.
Manufacturing activity also slowed in China, the world's largest source of demand to Buy Gold in the first three months of 2012.
May's official PMI figure was 50.4, down from 53.3 in April. HSBC's PMI meantime, which looks at smaller Chinese firms, showed ongoing manufacturing contraction, falling to 48.4 from 48.7.
In India meantime, traditionally the world's biggest gold buying nation, gold demand for 2012 will fall by 4% by volume compared to last year – but will be 4% up in value terms – according to a report published by researchers at Morgan Stanley.
By Ben Traynor
BullionVault.com
Gold price chart, no delay | Buy gold online at live prices
Editor of Gold News, the analysis and investment research site from world-leading gold ownership service BullionVault, Ben Traynor was formerly editor of the Fleet Street Letter, the UK's longest-running investment letter. A Cambridge economics graduate, he is a professional writer and editor with a specialist interest in monetary economics.(c) BullionVault 2012
Please Note: This article is to inform your thinking, not lead it. Only you can decide the best place for your money, and any decision you make will put your money at risk. Information or data included here may have already been overtaken by events – and must be verified elsewhere – should you choose to act on it.
© 2005-2012 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.
Comments
250 free flags as Scunthorpe Foundry and Parishes team up to celebrate Jubilee in style - This is Scunthorpe
With the Queen's Diamond Jubilee fast approaching, two shopping centres in Scunthorpe are teaming up to encourage the community to get into the festive spirit by putting on entertainment for all the family.
The Foundry Shopping Centre and The Parishes are working in partnership with North Lincolnshire Council tomorrow (Saturday June 2). Between the two centres and the Podium in the market, there will be three unique 'all things British' artists performing.
-
Peter Golightly, centre manager at The Foundry Shopping Centre, says this is a once in a lifetime occasion
To help kick-start the celebrations there will be two women dressed in Union Jack costumes on stilts greeting shoppers and giving away free flags ready for waving at the street parties throughout the town.
There will also be a human statue bringing the town centre to life and a magician who will dazzle you with his tricks.
Peter Golightly, centre manager at The Foundry Shopping Centre, says: "This is a once in a lifetime occasion and we are looking forward to giving our shoppers a Royal treat to start the celebrations. It's great to be working with The Parishes and Council and we hope the public enjoy it as much as us".
Tony Pickering, Parishes Shopping Centre Manager, adds: "The Queen's Diamond Jubilee is set to be a highlight of 2012 and, along with the Foundry and North Lincolnshire Council, we will bring Scunthorpe to life in glorious colour as we celebrate 'all things British'.
"There will be fun for all the family with our celebration of the Jubilee and live entertainment. I'd urge everyone in Scunthorpe to come out and celebrate with us!"
The entertainment will be between 11am and 3pm and there are 250 flags being given away.
For more information visit www.thefoundryscunthorpe.co.uk or www.theparishes.com
Drivers won't benefit from falling oil prices - Citywire.co.uk
The price of oil fell below the $100 a barrel mark on Friday for the first time since last October, but a weaker pound means drivers won’t save a penny at the pumps.
A barrel of Brent crude fell to $98, down from $120 a barrel last month.
The 2p saving drivers should see at the pumps as a result of lower oil prices, however, has been 'knocked out' because the pound has fallen in value by 4% since the middle of May, the AA explained.
'Had the pound remained worth $1.61 instead of around $1.53 now, further falls in the NW Europe wholesale price of petrol (taking it below $1000 a tonne for the first time since January) would have saved drivers a further 2p a litre,' the AA said.
Meanwhile, retailers have also yet to pass on the full 10p a litre saving from previous falls in wholesale prices to drivers.
Drivers have seen a saving of just seven and a half pence per litre at the pumps, Luke Bosdet of the AA explained. So while a weaker pound means they will not benefit from the most recent drop in wholesale prices, they are still owed a two and a half pence saving from the wholesale price falls seen since mid-April.
Yesterday the average price of petrol in the UK stood at 134.92p a litre, down from the record high of 142.8p seen in April. The cost of diesel, meanwhile, has fallen from 147.93p to 140.52p.
Earlier this week, the government warned fuel companies that they were being given 'one last chance' to improve transparency in the market.
Retailers have long been accused of responding to increases in wholesale prices much more quickly than price falls – prices shoot up like a rocket and fall like a feather, said Bosdet.
Transport secretary Justine Greening has now ordered retailers to set up a code of practice that allows drivers to monitor changes in petrol and diesel prices. If they don't, the government has said it will implement legislation.
Retailers claim that the industry does not understand the complex pricing mechanism, said Bosdet. Yet this fall in the price of oil is a perfect example of why greater transparency in the market would benefit suppliers as well as drivers.
On the one hand transparency would show drivers that a quarter of the savings from the original fall in wholesale prices was yet to be reflected at the pump, while on the other retailers and suppliers accused of pocketing the benefits of falling oil prices, would be able to defend themselves as to why a weaker pound means there will be no added savings.
Amazon.co.uk Announces Free Shopping App for Windows Phone - HEXUS.net
PRESS RELEASE
Luxembourg - 01 June, 2012 - Amazon.co.uk today announced the release of its latest mobile shopping application, ‘Amazon Mobile App for Windows Phone' which is now available as a free download from the Windows Phone Marketplace.
Designed specifically for Windows Phones, the Amazon Mobile App offers users a fast and convenient way to shop for millions of items from Amazon.co.uk and thousands of Amazon Marketplace sellers wherever they go.
The shopping app includes Amazon's barcode scanning feature which allows customers to use their device camera to scan the barcode of any product to see Amazon pricing, availability information, product details, customer reviews, and purchase securely from Amazon.co.uk.
Windows Phone users can save time by pinning the Amazon barcode scan tile on their phone start screen, enabling them to simply tap the tile to take them straight to the barcode scanner.
"The new Amazon Mobile App for Windows Phone offers customers all of the great features of the Amazon Shopping experience and Windows Phone customers can also benefit from the Amazon barcode scanning tile on their start screen," said Greg Greeley, Vice President EU Retail at Amazon. "The Windows Phone is an increasingly popular choice for many Amazon customers so we're delighted to be able to offer them a bespoke App with this new start screen feature only available for Windows Phone."
With the Amazon Mobile App for Windows Phone, customers can use their existing Amazon.co.uk account to access favourite shopping features wherever they are including:
- View detailed product information
- Read customer reviews
- Share products with friends
- Check product pricing and availability with barcode scanning
- Access personalized recommendations and manage recommendations
- Purchase using Amazon's 1-Click® ordering and Amazon Prime
- Track packages or cancel orders using the Your Account feature
- Access their Wish List
The Amazon Mobile App for Windows Phone is available on Windows Phone as a free download through the Windows Phone Marketplace. For more information visit: http://www.amazon.co.uk/windowsphoneapp.
About Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk opened its virtual doors in October 1998 and strives to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavours to offer its customers the lowest possible prices.
Amazon.co.uk and other sellers offer millions of new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Baby, Books, Car & Motorbike, Clothing, DIY & Tools, DVD, Electronics & Photo, Grocery, Health & Beauty, Home & Garden, Jewellery, MP3, Music, Musical Instruments & DJ, Office, PC, Pet Supplies, Shoes, Software, Sports & Leisure, Toys & Games, Video Games and Watches.
The all-new Kindle is the lightest, most compact Kindle ever and features the same 6-inch, most advanced electronic ink display that reads like real paper even in bright sunlight. Kindle Touch is a new addition to the Kindle family with an easy-to-use touch screen that makes it easier than ever to turn pages, search, shop, and take notes - still with all the benefits of the most advanced electronic ink display. Kindle Touch 3G is the top of the line e-reader and offers the same new design and features of Kindle Touch, with the unparalleled added convenience of free 3G.Kindle is the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items sold on Amazon.co.uk.
Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business.
UPDATE 3-Investment needed in power-hungry Texas market-study - Reuters UK
* Report calls for re-evaluation of needed reserve margin
* Advises progressive price cap increases when supply tight
* Sierra Club criticizes push for higher wholesale prices (Adds Brattle Group, NRG Energy, Panda comment)
HOUSTON, June 1 (Reuters) - The current design of the wholesale power market in Texas will not encourage needed investment in new power plants, the Brattle Group said in a report commissioned by the state electric grid operator.
Texas electric regulators and the grid agency that oversees the $34 billion deregulated wholesale market are working to encourage construction of new generation in the state, which has little ability to import power from its neighbors.
Unlike many areas of the United States, electric demand in Texas continues to grow because of the state's healthy economy.
"Electric reliability matters to all of us and we must remain focused on the central question of whether we are doing enough to guarantee an adequate power supply," said Craven Crowell, chairman of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
ERCOT, which oversees the grid for most of the state, has warned that the prospect for rolling blackouts in future years will increase as the power supply is unable to keep pace with growing demand.
Low wholesale prices and tight financial markets have stalled development of new generation in Texas even as more stringent environmental rules threaten to shut older coal- and gas-fired plants over the next few years.
"The cold hard fact is that new power plants will not be built unless power prices support that build," said Bill Nordlund, managing director of Panda Power Funds. Panda has two natural gas-fired plants primed for construction in Texas.
Last summer's protracted heat wave, which triggered record electricity demand and six emergency declarations from ERCOT, intensified the need to address the state's shrinking power reserve margin, the cushion needed to avoid blackouts.
The report by the Brattle Group, a power industry consultant, did not recommend a specific course of action to modify ERCOT's "energy-only" market, which pays generators only when they produce power, but outlined five options along with advantages and disadvantages of each.
Brattle principal Sam Newell said the energy-only market has worked well to attract generation investment in Texas, but low wholesale prices now will not encourage as many new megawatts as regulators believe are necessary to meet a 13.75 percent reserve margin in the summer when electric use soars.
Newell said Texans should reexamine that reserve target given the fact that power line problems are the cause of many more outages than supply shortages.
"You can plan on a very high level of reserves and almost never, ever have to shed load, but that would be more expensive than maintaining a lower reserve margin," Newell said on a call with reporters. "There's got to be a balance somewhere. We think it's worth re-evaluating those standards."
If the commission decides the state requires a higher reserve margin than the energy-only margin will provide, Brattle offered several potential solutions.
Options included keeping the energy-only design, but adding a market-based reserve margin; higher prices to support a target reserve margin; or a back-stop procurement process to maintain minimum acceptable reliability.
Other options included a mandatory resource adequacy requirement for companies that supply power to customers, or having a resource-adequacy requirement with a centralized forward capacity market.
While the Texas Public Utility Commission has resisted calls to create a capacity market similar to those used in other U.S. power markets, the Brattle report addressed a number of criticisms that capacity markets simply boost overall costs that benefit existing generation owners without attracting new power plants.
The PUC and ERCOT have already implemented a number of market changes, including raising the price cap on wholesale power when supplies are scarce, to encourage construction of new power plants.
"The Brattle Group's report confirms that we are moving in the right direction," said Donna Nelson, PUC chairman.
Unlike what the commission has proposed, however, the Brattle Group advised ERCOT to gradually increase the wholesale price cap to $9,000 per megawatt-hour from $3,000 MWh, reaching $9,000 only in extreme scarcity when power to customers is being curtailed. These prices would be paid by the suppliers who serve homes and businesses.
"We like scarcity prices to progress over a range instead of jumping to the cap (because) with a smoother price curve, you have better market behavior and it will work better with demand response," Newell said.
The report warned that simply increasing price caps will not attract more generation.
"Many market participants that were supportive of the commission's actions so far were wary of the prospect of raising caps much higher," the report said.
The Sierra Club criticized the report for its limited look at energy efficiency and conservation options where customers are paid to reduce power use when supplies are strained.
"Instead of using our money to build more coal and gas plants, the PUC should implement their rules proposed to raise energy efficiency goals," said Cyrus Reed, conservation director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.
The Brattle report said expanded demand-response programs will be needed, but that over the long-term the state will have to see new power plants built.
Reed also called on the state to increase use of renewable power, such as solar. Texas is already the No. 1 state for wind generation.
The Brattle Group noted that growth of wind power in Texas has depressed wholesale prices to the point that generators cannot justify investment in new gas-fired power plants.
John Ragan, president of NRG Energy's Gulf Coast region, complemented regulators and ERCOT for seeking "expert, external analysis of the different options Texas can implement to encourage greater resource adequacy while maintaining a strong commitment to competition and regulatory certainty."
"I am confident that we can address the issues that we face," Ragan said. (Reporting by Eileen O'Grady in Houston; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Tim Dobbyn, David Gregorio and Bob Burgdorfer)
New York takes a dismal FOURTH place in list of best U.S. cities for shopping - and you'll never guess the top three - Daily Mail
|
It is regarded as the fashion capital of the world by many and yet New York has taken a dismal fourth place in a list of America's best cities for shopping.
The news will no doubt come as shock to the thousands of New Yorkers who consider the bustling metropolis to be by far the most sartorially sophisticated city in the country.
But according to a survey conducted by Travel + Leisure magazine, when it comes to a general consumer experience, New Orleans, Santa Fe and Charleston have superior stores.
Not so fashionable now: New York took fourth place in Travel + Leisure's list of best U.S. cities for shopping behind New Orleans, Santa Fe and Charleston
The travel publication asked readers to rate 35 U.S. cities with scores between one and five across categories such as nightlife, culture, people, quality of life and shopping.
The shopping category was divided into subcategories of luxury stores, independent boutiques, antiques markets, flea markets and interior design stores and the results subsequently combined for an overall score.
Bottom of the list was Orlando, Salt Lake City and Anchorage, the latter having also earned itself last place in the Best Dressed stakes.
Though New York took the number one spot in the luxury store sub-division followed by Chicago and Los Angeles, it failed to perform when it came to the other types of retail locale.
Despite the perennially trendy downtown area with its plethora of boutiques jam packed with fashionistas, not to mention Brooklyn's hipster contribution to fashion, in the independent category, New York City came a surprising fourth, beaten even by Savannah, Georgia.
When the New York Daily News revealed the results of the poll to nursing student Josh Belier, he exclaimed: 'New Orleans? Really? I’ve never heard anyone say: "Hey, let’s take a trip to New Orleans to go shopping." Everyone comes to New York to shop.'
Top spot: Readers voted New Orleans the best place overall for eager consumers across a variety of sub-divisions such as luxury, boutique and antique shopping
Perhaps not any more. At least certainly not for antiques and thrift store finds. Regardless of the popularity and abundance of New York's flea markets and second hand furniture stores, the city didn't even feature in the top ten list for either category.
Again the southern cities fared far better with Houston, Texas rounding out the top ten.
And if all those chic Manhattan interiors magazines led you to believe New York was the place to go for home design think again, it came a poor eighth.
The concluding result was that over all New York only closely beat San Juan, Puerto Rico in a top ten list that featured LA, San Francisco and Philadelphia as well.
Student Anthony Colone, 29, who is about to move to New York from Delaware told the Daily News: 'That must be a mistake. That's just stupid. New York City is the shopping capital of the world.'
AMERICA'S BEST SHOPPING CITIES
1. New Orleans, Louisiana
2. Santa Fe, New Mexico
3. Charleston, South Carolina
4. New York City, New York
5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
6. San Juan, Puerto Rico
7. Los Angeles, California
8. Savannah, Georgia
9. San Francisco, California
10. Providence, Rhode Island
AMERICA'S WORST SHOPPING CITIES
1. Anchorage, Alaska
2. Orlando, Florida
3. Salt Lake City, Utah
4. Atlanta, Georgia
5. Dallas/Forth Worth, Texas
6. Las Vegas, Nevada
7. Baltimore, Maryland
8. Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona
9. Washington, D.C.
10. Memphis, Tennessee
Interesting. I've lived in Baltimore and Scottsdale/Phoenix and found the shopping great in both. You can't tell me that Indianapolis, Detroit and Pittsburg are all better than those two. This is a rubbish survey.
- Bebhinn, The Universe In Pain, 02/6/2012 00:02
Report abuse