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Notes from the President & Judy Duer
The next Board meeting is today June 16th, 2010 at noon. The location is Susan Connolly's House 8 N. 9th. All red badgers are invited.
Going Away Party - In Honor of Steve Rublee
Steve Rublee is moving to South Carolina
There will be a get together Saturday June 26th at 6:00pm
at Susan Connolly's office/house 8 N 9th.
This is also Steve's Birthday. Everyone is invited.
Please RSVP so I know how much food to provide - BYOB.
Please RSVP, sconnolly6@gmail.com or 771-2788.
Please come and say Happy Birthday and a fond so-long to Steve.
RYLA
We are sponsoring two RYLA campers this year, Matt Wolfe & Will Bednarz. We will meet these folks at this weeks meeting. The club needs drivers to carry the campers to and from the camp. If you decide you can volunteer forms need to be filled out to give permission for a background check. These forms need to be turned in by June 22nd. I have these forms so please get with me on Thursday.
RYLA 2010 Camp Dates are - Sunday, July 4th - Friday, July 9th
RYLA asks that we deliver the campers at noon on July 4th and pick the campers up at noon on Friday, July 9th.
Please consider helping in this area.
Last Weeks Program - By Gail Peek
Our Public Utility Guardians
Rotarian of the Day, Susan Connolly, introduced our guest speakers, Messrs. Daniel Bivens and Brad Temple of the Office of Public Utility Counsel.
Utility bills remind me of a joke told by comedian Jackie Mason. For years Jackie Mason pondered the symbols on his doctor’s prescriptions. He could not discern what on earth his doctor had written. One day he begged his pharmacist to decipher the hieroglyphics. The pharmacist cheerily said, it is easy, it says “I got mine, now you get yours!”
Well folks, that is how I feel when I try to understand my phone and electricity bills. There are fees, charges, taxes, services, etc. which are nicely detailed, but what does it all mean, other than a higher and higher bill?
Well our speakers are like that pharmacist only in that they can help you understand your bill and/or direct you to someone who can help you. But, they can also do a lot more as we learned.
Texas was the last state to create a commission to regulate its electricity and telephone companies. In 1975 the Public Utility Commission was created to provide state regulation of these industries. Prior to that time, companies had to work with municipalities. By 1983, as rate cases and rule making became more complicated, the Office of Public Utility Counsel was created in an effort to aid small residential and commercial customers. As Mr. Bivens put it, the Office of Public Utility Counsel is the “voice of the little guys [and gals].”
Messrs. Bivens and Temple are touring the state getting the word out about the Office of Public Utility Counsel. It has 17 1/2 employees, most of whom are lawyers. Its work load increased in 1999 with the break up of the electricity industry into:
- electricity providers like Oncor which transmits and delivers electricity and is regulated by the Public Utility Commission;
- electricity generators like Luminant which is not regulated, and
- retail electricity providers like TXU, Reliant and Green Mountain which are not regulated.
The goal of the break up was to provide more choice to the customer. Mr. Bivens noted that there are about 150 rate plans from which to choose. You should shop for your retail electricity provider and you can reap savings. Mr. Bivens showed us a slide noting that on December 31, 2001 the average cost of a kilowatt hour (kwh) of electricity was a low of 9.7¢ and a high of 12.7¢, whereas as of June 9, 2010, on a variable rate plan the average low was 8.2¢ and high was 12.0¢. On a fixed rate plan, as of June 9, 2010, the average low was 9.2¢ and high was 12.9¢. Mr. Bivens then shared the experience of the head of the Office of Public Utility Counsel, Mrs. Sherri Givens. Her electricity contract had lapsed so she was paying a month-to-month rate. She shopped around for a suitable plan and wound up saving about $80 a month in electricity costs!
You too can explore whether you are getting the best option by going to www.powertochoose.com. This website displays the retail electricity providers’ plans available to you. Just remember that a variable plan can have good savings until you hit the months in which the costs may go way up (e.g., summer months in Texas). Fixed rate plans may appear to cost more, but your monthly rate is steady and predictable. It is a matter of what suits your needs. Electricity costs are tied to the cost of natural gas. If the cost of natural gas rises, so will your electricity bill. Also, read the terms of service for any plan carefully so that you fully understand the costs. Some plans have late fees; some have early termination fees, etc. Factor all of these items into your choice.
Mr. Bivens provided some handouts that described various customer assistance programs for those who are at or below the poverty level, those with critical health conditions, and those who are ill and/or disabled. You can contact your retail electricity provider regarding programs that it has available or call 2-1-1, the Public Utility Commission at 1-866-454-8387, TDHCA at 1-877-399-8939, and Hill Country Community Action Association, Inc. at-1-325-372-5167.
Mr. Bivens also said that there are public funds to assist consumers in weatherization and upgrading their residences to be more energy efficient. He encouraged all of us to do this as it may provide cost savings in the future.
Mr. Bivens tackled the “smart meter” issue. In 2005 the Texas Legislature mandated that the electricity industry utilize advanced technology (e.g., digital meters). An important goal of this legislation was to allow the user to better monitor usage. Oncor starting installing the so-called smart meters and “as they say the saga began.” Independent tests appear to have vindicated the smart meter; however there has been evidence of human error in reading/setting the meters during the switch out process. You may not be able to read the smart meter but there is a web portal that allows you to see your usage in real time. You can purchase a monitoring device that will be synchronized to your specific meter, or you can go to www.smartmetertx.com and in about 60 days receive an identification number that will allow you to monitor your usage through your home computer.
Now folks, the Office of Public Utility Counsel will promote the interests of the residential and small commercial customer but it cannot lower your bills. Its staff can help ease the process of your contacting the appropriate people with any of your questions. They have the knowledge and contacts and as Mr. Bivens said, they want to help you.
Unfortunately, those irritating fees, charges etc. that appear on your electricity and phone bills (and which can easily wipe out any of your kwh savings) are not things that Messrs. Bivens, Temple and the Office of Public Utility Counsel can help with as those charges are regulated by the Public Utility Commission.
So we can get the bills deciphered with the aid of the talented staff at the Office of Public Utility Counsel, but we still have a long was to go in terms of controlling our utility costs. The start, as Mr. Bivens said, is focusing on what you can do as an individual.
My fellow Rotarians, my term as Public Relations Director comes to an end. This is my last article for the 2009-2010 year. It has been my pleasure to recount our programs which have imparted a lot of information to our group. I could not help but add a bit of humor and poke fun at some of our Rotarians. Thank you for the kind words about the articles. I hope you enjoyed them and will support our new board as enthusiastically as you have supported the outgoing board.
District 5870 Information
The February, 2010 District Newsletter is currently posted on the District Website. The link to the district newsletter is http://www.rotary5870.com/Newsletter.cfm
Scheduled Programs for June
Please let me know if you have a program you would like to share and we will book them.
June 17 - John Bandas Program - Vocational Award
June 24 - Rotary Assembly
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