Of course, the only reason the City Council would even consider such a huge rate increase is because City staff are pushing them to do so. Lord knows the City Council doesn't do much on their own initiative, right? So what does a key City staff member have to say about this idea?
From the PDN: "In an interview last week, Phil Lusk, deputy director of power and telecommunication systems, said he was unaware of the five-year impact of the increases on ratepayers."
Uh huh. So, Phil, you're "unaware" of the ramifications of what you are personally proposing and pushing are for all the citizens of Port Angeles, but that doesn't slow you down in pushing for it? I guess, Phil, you're either dumber and/or way more cynical than I thought.
404 S. Washington St. - home of a well-connected utility ratepayer.
In any case, if anyone reading this would like to help educate Phil Lusk about the impact of these proposed rate increases, he can be found right across from Civic Field, at 404 S. Washington St. I'm sure that, as part of his job duties, Phil would be more than happy to have you stop by and tell him all about your feelings on this issue. After all, living as he does in Port Angeles, at 404 S. Washington St., Phil's a ratepayer, too. So maybe, just maybe, you can prod him into incorporating some thinking into his job. Maybe.
Wow! Look at the green lawn on 404 S. Washington St. Maybe the photo was taken in the Spring when everyone's grass is green? If it was taken recently, then it would be worthwhile to do a public records request for a year's worth of utility bills for that address, to see how much extra (or not) it costs to irrigate the landscaping and also pay related waste-water charges for metered water that doesn't actually go into the sewer system.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone on the Council or city staff proposed raising utility rates for Nippon? Even a smidgeon?
ReplyDeleteIs Nippon's base rate for electricity coming anywhere near the City's "cost of service" incurred for handling the complexities of the biggest electricity user in the system?
And then there's the enormous rate-payer and taxpayer subsidies for the industrial water that Nippon uses. Up to twenty MILLION gallons of water a day --- billed at $15,500/year; rates that haven't changed since 1929. Is anyone talking about updating that sweetheart deal to reflect today's realities?
Ah, yes. Nippon. The name that reminds us that all utility customers are created equal - but some are more equal.
DeleteAnd per your comments, it won't be long before it's possible for a single family home to have a yearly utility burden that surpasses the $15,000 Nippon pays for all that water.
There is a belief held locally that if you charge the true value of resources they will move somewhere else where they can exploit another community. They get communities racing to the bottom to land a few jobs. Why not let each and every business pay its own way. Isn't that the great conservative anthem--Ann Rand and all that. Instead what we do is socialize the costs and privatize the profits. Someone should file a "show-cause" action against the city to force them to justify this chronic injustice. Private citizens should not be propping up for profit companies--certainly not Japanese companies.
DeleteIf you ever drive out to the Nippon plant and look at the large pipe just below hill street that is the main water line coming into the Nippon plant from the Elwha. That line was put in by the original mill owners at their expense to feed the mill. It has never been part of the City of PA's infrastructure. The water never see's any treatment or anything that the city does to it's water. That pipe and everything associated with it has always been maintained by the mill owners throughout the years.
DeleteThe deal of $15K a year is the result of the negotiations between the mill and the National Park Service on the dam removal. The deal was done and the city has to abide by it.
There are other water services that do go to the mill that are metered and billed by the city like any other business would be.
Untruths! Spoken like a disinformation disciple of KR or GC!
DeleteYou are wrong about the $15K deal being the result of negotiations between the mill and NPS. NPS had nothing to do with that sweetheart arrangement. The price was set in 1929 when the city entered into its first 30-year-long water contract with the waterfront mills that existed then. The contract has been renewed twice - the last time in 1989; and it will expire in 2019. The rate for what is now the Nippon mill has not changed since 1929: $15,500 a year for 20 million gallons a day then; same thing now.
As for the water line not being part of the city infrastructure --- wrong again. The water right belongs to the city. The water line belongs to the city. Always has. The water contract does call for the mill to reimburse the city for the costs of maintaining the pipeline. I recall hearing a few years ago that the yearly maintenance costs averaged around $40,000. A public records request to the city should reveal whether this underwhelming amount is still correct.
It is true that the industrial water does not pass through the new treatment plant (near the end of 18th Street) that adds chemicals to the drinking water. But - the city's drinking water never passed through that treatment plant either until a few years ago. Remember those quarterly health warnings about the untreated water that used to be inserted in our utility bills? Thank you, NPS, for building us that water treatment plant with federal funds and for giving the city millions of dollars to operate it.
Whoopie zip that Nippon gets billed for water supplying its drinking fountains and employee restrooms. I hope (but somehow doubt) that Nippon is paying the same rate for it that any other place of business would. But are you truly implying that it is fair for Nippon to use 20 MILLION GALLONS A DAY in its manufacturing processes - nearly for free?
Don't forget that a trip to Phil's house is actually a twofer. His girlfriend, Diane Urbani de la Paz, works for the PDN. Both could help spread some "awareness," if they so desired.
ReplyDeleteYes, but...Diane only writes sunny, feel-good stories. Actual news stories are left to hatchet men like Paul Gottlieb, who then chop out most of the facts.
DeleteI guess what I'm saying is...Don't rely on the PDN for news. Of any sort.
John Brewer is the daddy of every word that comes out of that building. Paul and Ron and Jeremy all must take their stories in for John's approval even before Rex or Diane see it. That is John Brewer's paper, he uses it to ingratiate himself to the hoi poloi.
DeleteDiane is now Mrs. Phil Lusk.
DeleteEd Chadd must be crying his eyes out!
DeletePhil Lusk should be put in the same file as Nathan West: people who know better, but don't say a thing. They have both sold their credibility and any ethics they may have once had, all to keep their sad little jobs in Port Angeles - a sad little place that they are now helping make even sadder.
ReplyDeleteCK, thanks for keeping this blog going, however sporadically. It's still a good source of actual, helpful info for people. I was just at the Port O Call website, and, while there is some good info there as well, it's a total mess. Terrible formatting at the very least, further crippled by incomplete sentences, missing text, etc., etc. Too bad Dale Wilson still hasn't got his act together. It makes him ridiculously easy to marginalize.
ReplyDeleteGet a webmaster, Dale! It's doable, really it is.
In Tennessee we call that "looking a gift horse in the mouth" it means you are ungrateful. You get a product for free and whine about it. Why not address your criticism to the source instead of putting it on someone's else's website. That makes me think you are a troll Tim.
DeleteWell gosh, Dale, so glad to see that you can take some constructive criticism so well...The fact is, the POC website is pretty sloppy. Sloppy implies disorder. Disorder implies crazy or inaccurate. And that makes it oh so easy for the good ol' boys to discredit you and run you down - and out.
DeleteGrow up, man. Take it like a man. And stop responding as though every voice that doesn't agree with you 1000% is a "Tim troll." That just makes you sound paranoid, too. If you want to create change, maybe you need to do a little yourself?
Dale paints a big target on his back, then complains when people take shots at him. Classic.
DeletePay your bills and shut up! Phil wants to keep his job! Stop your whining! Priorities, people, priorities! Phil wants to keep his job!
ReplyDeleteBeing a business owner and large water user this would be terrible. Again the council is just going along with what the staff says. If the city hasn't had so many blunders during the Cutler reign of terror maybe they wouldn't be in such a mess (why did he ever care, he lives up Deer Park in the county and is on the PUD).
ReplyDeleteBetween 2005 and 2014 I have seen my water bill go from .0110 cf to .0209 cf that's a 90% increase. Now .02 cf may not seem like a lot but to my business that's a $7500-$8000 a year more that I have to pay.
Between 2005 and 2014 I have seen my electric bill go from .0598 kwh to .0785 kwh that's a 31% increase. Now compared to the rest of the country (upwards to .25 kwh) we still have some of the cheapest electricity. Then again you have to look at our local economy as a whole (wages, cost of living etc). So comparatively we are in line.
Unfortunately as a business we cannot absorb these rate hikes. So as any business would do we will either raise our rates or lay people off and replace with automation to offset these costs. Either way the community loses and the business loses too. Customers will quit because they can no longer afford the service or they have to shutter their doors because they can't afford the rate increases.
I wish there was an easy answer but there isn't. Between the lousy decisions the city has made over the years and being maxed out on taxing revenues they feel to survive over the next ten years this is the only choice they have.
They refuse to look at selling the city owned utility fearful of uncontrollable rate hikes (which have to be approved by the city and state). If they sold the utility the city in one fell swoop would almost become solvent. I guess they feel if they did that then all their friends and family wouldn't have these extremely lucrative union jobs. When a business has a profit center that costs more to operate than what they make then you sell it off or close it down. You have to stop the bleeding and the city has not been able to accomplish this simple business principal in the last 20 years.
What else can I say? Sell the city to the Olympic National Park and we all can just walk away.
Uh Oh. This post tends to confirm some of my worst fears --- that operatives such as this person are out there already, working toward convincing city officials that the way out of the city's financial hole is to privatize public resources.
DeleteInsidious. And scary. The bad guys are way ahead of us, and they appear to have their game plan and talking points firmly in place.
On another note something we have to look forward to.
ReplyDeleteSmart Meters catching on fire. Recall may be pending.
http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2014/09/21/reno-smart-meter-fires-widespread-first-feared/15897355/
The good news never stops for Port Angeles, does it?
DeleteThe city forces these stupid smart meters on people. The meters are defective and catch fire. And with utility rates being what they are, who can afford the water needed to put out the fire?