[lordCarbonFiber]

The difference is a question of infrastructure. If your ISP trottles your connection you have maybe one local competitor (doing the same thing) or live without internet. Utilites are treated as public works; imagine if the power company charged higher rates depending on what electronics were used.

There simply is no comparison to regulation at a platform level and I wish people would stop using that straw-man every time they rush to defend the poor telecoms and their "freedom".

[metachor]

Power companies do charge different rates depending on what electronics are used.

Energy utility rate structures are both complex and unique to the individual company, but at a high level different classes of consumer pay different rate plans, such as residential vs. commercial/industrial vs. agricultural, and which is ultimately determined by the type of and quantity of certain electronic devices installed on premise as is normal for that class.

With that said, as a residential consumer there is little chance that you could ever legally or physically install one of the devices at your home that would necessitate being charged a CI or agricultural rate.

And interestingly enough those rates are all regulated by very heavy weight local/state and federal regulatory commissions.

[outsidetheparty]

That's tiered pricing based on quantity consumed, isn't it? Which is already very much allowed for ISPs.

Net neutrality is a completely different thing. Without it, it'd be as if the electric company could charge more if you used this 700 watt toaster than if you used that 700 watt toaster.

[shorodei]

A power company can't charge you extra or give you a discount because you used an LG washer, because LG is a competitor to their sister company GE, or something like that. That's exactly what Net Neutrality regulations were trying to enforce. Without enforcement, you have things like Comcast or TMobile giving extra speed to their own streaming portals, or charge other service providers for higher speed tiers. I don't understand why there is so much contention regarding this, regardless of political affiliation.