Consumers are held captive

Published 9:00 pm Monday, December 18, 2000

The PUD spin doctors are at it again with their talk of a $22 average increase on home electric bills of $63. Back in the 1960s and ’70s they conned thousands into building homes 100 percent electric with electric furnaces etc. Then they changed the billing rules so the more you use, the higher the rate per kilowatt hour. So, paying $200 to $300 per month in the winter plus 10 percent taxes is not uncommon.

There are so many neighborhoods with no gas service as the gas company will not put in the lines the two or three blocks without getting the whole neighborhood to commit to changing to gas immediately. We are totally trapped and captive to the PUD for hot water, heat, cooking, etc. The coming 33 percent increase will also have the 10 percent taxes increased. The average household with all electricity will have about a $99 increase plus $9.90 increase in the tax as well.

These commissioners we have not only have mishandled the job of operating the PUD efficiently but also lie to us about how little this increase will be.

Everett