Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This is my 2nd post and almost my 3rd post....My first post is nowhere to be found; the victim of ( using the "Back" button and arrow in one of the upper most menu bars, usually on the left; a white arrow inside of a green button. If you know what i mean great, if not it's no big deal ) the beast. The beast is everywhere and has many faces....many phases....
Progress Energy Rate Increase Approved.
This morning i turn on "the news" and the first thing that i hear is this:
"Rate hike approved for Progess Energy to off set rising fuel costs" Why does this jump out and grab me?
The approval for the rate hike took about 5 months.
Back then, around June 6th when gas and oil were approaching record highs and part of the explaination for that rise was the declining value of the dollar and the rising cost of oil is being driven in part because of the decline of the U$ DOLLAR , weather, production costs, blah blah blah.
Well stop the presses! Since then the cost of energy has fallen significantly and the value of the dollar is stronger than it has been in years! The weather has passed and all the reasons have changed or don't matter today, they don't hold up in any event, as least not in the moment.
And since there isn't a soothsayer, mystic, fortune-teller, or cabinet position personnel to help us know what the future holds; i have to wonder if Progress Energy will request a rate decrease if prices continue to fall or some other unexpected economic news lends itself to the reality known as " COST OF LIVING " Since we blew past "recession" before the news media, pundits, or a governemnt spokes person said the word "recession" let alone declared us to be in such an economic state, in one week we quickly find ourself falling into what is called: a "deflationary" period. So for the few who understand economics and the words that speak percisly to where we are and warn us about where we might be headed; think about those famous words uttered by Rod Serling: "You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas; you've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone."
One more thought to think about juxtaposed to todays news. Raleigh water rates could increase
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The drought's over, and Raleigh water customers are doing their part by continuing to conserve.
Thing is, all this good news does have a potential downside. In the spirit of 'no good deed goes unpunished', water customers could soon find themselves paying more. The Public Utilities Department gets most of its operating revenue from selling water, and the bottom line is hurting.
"The less water we sell, that does affect our bottom line, that does affect our budget," Buchan says. "We are about 15 percent lower than we were through this period last year."
Alas, "the beast" may be bigger than most people realize. "The BEAST" is complacency run rampant by everyone who allows most of the surprises dumped on us by government and private industry whether it's domestic or foreign; "fiddle while Rome burns".
Howard Beale: I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's work, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the (Terrorists and Pirates ) ( "Russians" in original quote )and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad.
'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!'
I have no problem with the rate hike. The electricity here is dirt cheap. 10% of next to nothing is next to nothing. The rates go up and down all the time, depending on costs. They will go down again and then back up. Compared to the cost of utilities back in MA, this is a joke. I am very pleased.
There are many costs here that are less than other states, cities, and countries. The second story suggests that when "we the people" are asked to comply and do a good job at it, our rewards are higher costs of living.
When we compare: " well compared to where I used to live...." we send the wrong message IMHO And from what i hear, the locals don't like the increase in traffic, taxes, and everything else that comes with rapid growth from a mass migration of human beings down to this area. If not for the increase in growth perhaps there wouldn't have been a need to conserve?
I have no problem with the rate hike. The electricity here is dirt cheap. 10% of next to nothing is next to nothing. The rates go up and down all the time, depending on costs. They will go down again and then back up. Compared to the cost of utilities back in MA, this is a joke. I am very pleased.
Yeah, I just wish when we took a pay cut to move here that our wages would increase accordingly to the price hikes. Thus far, price increases have far exceeded wage increases. But, that's just us.
Yeah, I just wish when we took a pay cut to move here that our wages would increase accordingly to the price hikes. Thus far, price increases have far exceeded wage increases. But, that's just us.
We did it the other way. We are making more and expenses are less for us here, rather than in MA. Housing, property taxes and utilities are far less for us here, yet we make more money............for now.
Utilities are allowed to recoup their fuel costs by the PSC. Adjustments are made as the cost of fuel fluctuates - for example that's why PSNC sometimes goes for a rate increase and then a decrease. It's no different for Progress Energy. Sometimes the PSC directs the utility to spread the cost over a multi-year period so the consumer is not hit with a large percentage increase in a calendar year. So while fuel costs may have decreased the utility is still recouping the costs it paid for fuel some time ago.
We did it the other way. We are making more and expenses are less for us here, rather than in MA. Housing, property taxes and utilities are far less for us here, yet we make more money............for now.
That's cool. Unfortunately, not the case with everyone. My dw works in retail... moving here was an opportunity to decrease her salary due to the 'cheaper' cost of living. Well, at the time, housing was indeed cheaper. But in the two years we've lived here, we've discovered our food bill is a lot higher especially with the added tax on food here in NC; health insurance is more expensive; and our gas and electric bill is a lot higher than it was in Los Angeles among other things (both weather related, of course, and discounts offered there that do not exist here).
.....................................
In response to the OP's concern, I know that the creators of the film Network optioned exemplary writers. It is as valid now as it was back in the seventies. And big corporations know how to manipulate the thinking of consumers. I have colleagues who make a living doing just that. Though they don't like to call it manipulation... a better word is influence.
So, requesting a rate hike is part of the utility company's business plan. It happens when they need it or not. However, capitalizing on rising fuel prices or droughts is usually the best time to do so since there is no other time better than to utilize the public's sympathy of the situation and support such increases. The public figures that if they are experiencing the pain of such increases, then the utility companies must be feeling it too allowing no reason to argue. Most of the time, increases occur frequently through little notices tacked onto a bill and, arguably, most people don't even notice or care to pay attention.
The increases will occur. They will continue forward. Unfortunately and the reality of it all is that the increases are not just allocated to cover the cost of rising fuel prices or drought, but for other costs and benefits to the company that the public is not privy.
Taxes. Laws. Infringements. They will continue to occur in this region and society in general, Kryptonite. A good number may balk. A select few may make a stink. An even greater few will attempt to do something to make a change or resist such benefits to corporate gain or legal stifling.
The character Howard Beale existed and become iconic for several reasons. Unfortunately, a glorified catch phrase supersedes the overall written message in the film. There's a reason why the film made sense thirty years ago. It struck a nerve back then. Why? Because it did indeed make a lot of sense.
Utilities are allowed to recoup their fuel costs by the PSC. Adjustments are made as the cost of fuel fluctuates - for example that's why PSNC sometimes goes for a rate increase and then a decrease. It's no different for Progress Energy. Sometimes the PSC directs the utility to spread the cost over a multi-year period so the consumer is not hit with a large percentage increase in a calendar year. So while fuel costs may have decreased the utility is still recouping the costs it paid for fuel some time ago.
Thank you for posting the reality of utility rates. There are delays in the cost increases and decreases....if the costs go up, it takes several months until these costs are passed on to the ratepayer...the same if they go down.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
