Am I the only one who sees this as a particularly feeble response to the issue?
First, here's the company side on the rate increases. http://www.ameren.com/AboutUs/ADC_AUE_RateFiling.asp A couple of snippets from that page. "If approved, this electric rate increase would mark the first one for AmerenUE in almost 20 years." "Typical residential customers using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month would see their electric bills rise from approximately $66 per month to $72 per month, excluding taxes." Clearly, some people did get hammered by the changes. Testimony of Scott Cisel, President and CEO, Ameren Illinois Utilities - 2007.02.27 http://illinoischannel.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!B0DB128F5CD96151!2007.entry Even Cisel says that low electrical rates were partly to blame for people using more electricity (as opposed to say, insulation) than necessary. BTW, the new, higher rates are still below 10 cents/kWh. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisnews/story/C80ED6D9855C9A18862572920017A867?OpenDocument But not to worry, there is political pressure to force the prices back down. (see story above) So, in order to make his point, Hancock ups his cost by another 10-20%. And increases the company's overhead to deal with the protest payment, which is not likely to reduce electricity rates. So, based on the evidence I came across, it seems likely Hancock heats with electricity, and the unseasonably cold weather had the expected effect. Let's hope his next step (and for his neighbours) is to figure out how to reduce his electrical consumption in the future. Unlikely though, it appears instead they'll apply political pressure to end up in the Ontario scenario (keep residential electrical rates unrealistically low, let taxpayers make up the difference, remove the incentive to conserve). Nationalizing oil will simply lead to exploitation by a (somewhat) different group of piggish folks: government. PetroCanada is a disappointing example of what "nationalizing" oil accomplishes. Darryl Kirk McLoren wrote: > necessities of life shouldnt be available to exploitation by piggish > folks- > like the electricity corporations and natural gas. > Nationalize oil! > Kirk > > http://www.kfvs12.com/global/story.asp?s=6206504&ClientType=Printable > <http://www.kfvs12.com/global/story.asp?s=6206504&ClientType=Printable> > Carterville, IL > *Carterville man pays electric bill with 52,000 pennies* > March 12, 2007 03:14 AM PST > > *Carterville man pays electric bill with 52,000 pennies* > By: Carly O'Keefe > CARTERVILLE, Ill. - A Carterville man wanted to give Ameren CIPS more > than just his two cents about the recent rate hike. He's giving them > 52,000 cents, by paying his electric bill entirely in pennies. > Hancock withdrew $525 dollars from his bank entirely in pennies. It was > a large enough withdrawal he needed a pick-up truck to take it all home. > He sent his payment to Ameren CIPS in six flat-rate boxes through the > United States Postal Service. But he didn't send nice, neat rolls of > pennies. Hancock broke open each and every one of the 1050 rolls, to > protest his electric bill that increased three times as much as it was > this time last year from $193 to $522. "When my bill came, my first > reaction was shock. That didn't last long. Then I got mad, and then I > remembered: don't get mad, just get even," Hancock said. > If his protest helps lower electric bills, Hancock says, it'll be worth > every penny. "I just want to inconvenience them, and hopefully get other > people involved to the point that it'll be a hassle for them to collect > money they send bills for," said Hancock. > Just how much postage did it cost to mail 315 pounds of pennies from > Carterville to the Ameren P.O. Box in St. Louis? Hancock paid $51.61 to > ship the flat rate boxes and added delivery confirmation to make sure > his penny payment is received. > > Never miss an email again! > Yahoo! Toolbar > <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=49938/*http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/> > > alerts you the instant new Mail arrives. Check it out. < > http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=49937/*http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/> > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > -- Darryl McMahon It's your planet. If you won't look after it, who will? The Emperor's New Hydrogen Economy (now in print and eBook) http://www.econogics.com/TENHE/ _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
