Opinion: Electric ratepayers are being used
By Dave McClure
Liberty Utilities, owned by Canadian utility giant Algonquin Power, is on a mission to raise our rates for electricity to feed their insatiable appetite for more profits. Look out California Lake Tahoe residents, businesses, and homeowners as the foreign corporation spins their message that rate increases are necessary for “safe and reliable service.”
Don’t be taken in by their siren’s song.
Remember the last general rate case in which Liberty claimed only a modest 4.6 percent increase beginning January 2013? We wrote that it was deceptive because the 4.6 percent accounted for only $3.75 million of their approved $12.5 million. The rest of the increase ($8.7 million) was temporarily offset by a refund of over-collected wholesale power costs. That refund will end next year resulting in a huge rate increase.
On top of that rate increase Liberty has applied to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to retroactively collect more than $2 million from vegetation management expenses from 2012. And there are other projects Liberty will be asking for “rate relief” or increased rates to add to their profits.
The largest of these is an unnecessary $50 million boondoggle called “the 625/650 line upgrade.”
Liberty admits this project will cost ratepayers about $7.5 million more per year. Where can you invest money today for a 10 percent after tax (yes, we pay their taxes) guaranteed by state government regulators?
If it could get worse, it does. This monstrous project is not technically justified, and the North Tahoe Citizen Action Alliance has hired an expert utility engineer with 25 years experience with Southern California Edison to bring technical honesty to this CPUC proceeding.
Liberty carried this project forward from Sierra Pacific Power Company (SPP) based on a technical report from 18 years ago. At the time SPP owned the Nevada and California service territory and conceived this loop upgrade to better serve their customers in Truckee and Incline Village.
Liberty is putting the entire cost of SPP’s project on the backs of Liberty ratepayers. In addition, one leg of the loop is in the Lake Tahoe Basin (from Tahoe City to Kings Beach) calls for the largest tree removal (25,000 trees) and road building project in the Tahoe basin’s history.
The independent expert has shown their technical studies are obsolete, deeply flawed, and carefully edited to try and prove their case. For several years Liberty has been delaying – holding hostage – a necessary but relatively inexpensive upgrade in an “all or nothing” strategy. We have suggested a staged alternative that may preclude any need for environmental damage to the Lake Tahoe Basin. Liberty is not cooperating with our data requests, because they just want fast track approval from the CPUC.
It’s time to fight for justice, honesty, and technical reality. It’s time to tell the foreign owners to end their campaign of misinformation and stop pillaging the Tahoe Basin. We are not their sheep. Never in the modern history of Lake Tahoe has there been so egregious an attack on our outstanding national resource, and on all of Liberty’s 49,000 California ratepayers, for a project with a clearly false technical basis – only corporate spin, fear, and “we know what is best and we’ll take care of you” rhetoric.
We need Tahoe residents to send this message to Liberty Utilities, to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency prior to their approval, and to the California Public Utilities Commission.
Dave McClure is president of North Tahoe Citizen Action Alliance.
The real problems are TRPA and the CPUC – both equally corrupt and purposely useless for in representation for the public
Excellent letter Dave. We are being hit from every direction with corruption for corporate profits and agency self-interest.
We need to stand up loud and clear and let them know we are not sheep. Speak louder than their media staff who continue to tell the rest of the world how happy we all are with our agencies. There are groups like Dave’s working hard to do this, but they need our help. Citizens need to speak out!
It seems like lately most people I speak with are complaining about all of the rate increases.
Liberty wants to raise rates substantially,
STPUD raised rates 6.5% for the next five years,
Leakins (aka Lukins) raised rates by $67 per quarter,
Southwest Gas wants a 21% increase,
The city just approved an increase for 911 over the next several years.
Also, the price of food is skyrocketing, $6 for a pound of ground beef, items that use to be 16 oz are now 10 -12 oz and cost more,
the price of gas is $4 per gallon,
cable/satellite prices keep going up,
phone and internet go up every year
cell phone costs keep going up, there are fees listed as miscellaneous on my bill,
college tution prices are skyrocketing,
auto repair labor charges are $90 – $100 per hour,
it costs $60 – $90 for a repairman to tell you what’s wrong with your washer and whether or not it can be repaired,
health insurance and medical costs are going up,
restaurants are raising prices due to the increase in food costs, at a local restuarant a hamburger is $13,
State & Federal taxes keep going up.
How are people suppose to survive on fixed or meager incomes? All of these increases are hurting low and middle income people. It seems to me that the public is being hit with too many increases at one time.
Government and large corporations don’t seem to care about the impact these increases are having on families that are already struggling.
I have had to make drastic cuts in my spending. Rarely do I eat out, I don’t buy overpriced items, I shop where I get the best prices. I do most of my shopping at WalMart, Trader Joe’s and Costco to save money.
When people have less money to spend, it hurts the economy. Like most people, I wonder when all of these increases will end.
Keith, I’m with you on everything you said. All our utilities are going up along with food prices and gasoline. What’s not going up? Our incomes! I’ve cut back on sooo much, and am still struggling to get by.
I’m living on a very small amount of money from month to month. I’m retired and not much chance of finding a job at my age and my physical limitations.
I sure didn’t expect retirement to be like this! Boat on the trailer as I can’t afford the dock rental and gas and all that goes along with it. Very rarely dine out. No more concerts or weekend getaways. Whole lot of other things have gone by the wayside as well.
“The rich get richer, the poor get poorer”. It’s and endless cycle. OLS
This is not just about a scenic violation of a nationally revered trail system. It’s about a verified needs assessment that is applicable to the Tahoe basin, versus Truckee versus Ski Resort expansion versus Incline Village and who benefits off the backs of a few rate-payers. It’s about fair-share payment and usage.
Having met the CEO of Algonquin, I’m not sure what ‘trade magazine’ utility company CEO’s all read, but there is in fact a movement among them to “optimize’ their cash flows, as a number of them are mortified at the success of the solar industry in recent years, as that success represents a growing dilution (one customer large or small) of their customer base. . .
There is a major industry report attesting to that fearful strategy. . .[not by the industry themselves]
The real question for us in Tahoe is that since the RPU, it seems the only projects approved & started involve the destruction of a lot of trees – 50+ for Harrison Avenue (as one writer spoke of the obvious “pave paradise, put up a parking lot”). . .and, as noted by Mr. McClure, “25,000” trees (the earlier estimate was 17,000) are to be downed – to increase the available voltage for: Homewood, Squaw, Northstar, etc
. . . not to mention the increase in cash flow to Liberty
What exactly does cutting down trees have to do with increasing the power supply for them ?
With a public comment period of 1 month, in the ‘dead of winter’ – think that might be under the radar (?) or that it passes for someone’s idea of shrewd (?)
Especially as the Sierra Club suit was a perfect foil ?
Where is the development of alternative energies, green building, or sustainable development (from three developments)?. . .
In short, not even very good business sense, as they all will be leaving considerable money on the table – unless of course, they were all trained in “selling out” once complete, leaving that problem to a buyer not wise enough to ask for better performance from a project. . .
This may not be a great example of any reasonable “Update”. . .as no one seems to have any credible ‘future’ experience, just a way to redo the ’60’s, up to the ’80’s