"To date, PEC's Boards have failed to fulfill their mission statement to provide its members with "low-cost energy . . . "
Note: Below the advisory from the PEC are emails from two PEC customers who would beg to differ that everything is peaches and cream at your power cooperative.
Contact the candidates at this link if you have questions, or click on the "comments" at the bottom of the post
Media advisory from the PEC
April 30, 2012
Contact: stephen.shahan@peci.com
Pedernales Electric Cooperative is holding a “meet the candidates” event May 3, 5:30 p.m., where PEC members can meet candidates and hear their views at PEC's E. Babe Smith Headquarters Building in Johnson City.
Each of the eight candidates will have four minutes to address topics of their choice. Members in attendance will have the opportunity to speak with candidates after the presentation portion of the forum. Video of the candidates’ messages also will be posted to pec.coop.
Voting begins May 9, and members will elect directors for Board districts 1, 6 and 7. Visit pec.coop/election for details.
It's Election Time Again, yet Pedernales Electric Cooperative's Rates are Still No Bargain!
19 Apr 2012, 09:02
Despite two Board elections and a third on the horizon in the post Bennie-Fuelberg-era, PEC's rates – at 11.7 cents per kWh – are among the very highest in the state. Today, in the deregulated electric market in Texas, consumers pay as little as 5.9 cents.
With Customer Choice, consumers choose their electric provider, choose their price – 6 cents to 11 cents, choose their term and even choose renewable energy.
To date, PEC's Boards have failed to fulfill their mission statement to provide its members with "low-cost energy." An efficiently run tax exempt, non-profit electric cooperative, with access to cheap capital, should be able to provide its members with electric rates that are lower than those found in the deregulated electric market. But, it's not happening.
So, the captive members of PEC have to ask themselves the following question at some point in the very near future: What are the economic benefits of being a member of an electric cooperative in 2012? PEC's rates are essentially the same as before, and remain well above market levels.
The average folks simply cannot afford PEC's Bennie-Fuelberg-era level rates.
Randy Klaus
Member since 1990
Cost-effective rates must come from a responsible board of directors
21 April 2012, 3:58:09 PM CDT
What I do know is that the PEC's high electric rates are due in great part to PEC's excessive controllable expenses. A look at the PEC's most recent monthly Consolidated Income Statement shows the following:
(1) The overall revenue per kWh, i.e., the implied global rate, was 10.86 cents;
(2) The cost per kWh of purchased power from LCRA/AEP was 5.77 cents – 6.18 cents to PEC member-owners to account for line and transformer losses; and,
(3) The remainder, 4.68 cents per kWh, includes controllable expenses, depreciation, taxes, interest, and return on investment for PEC's transmission and distribution system.
Were PEC member-owners to have choice, even if one can find an independent power producer to beat the LCRA/AEP purchased power rates, there's still that 4.68 cents per kWh that PEC will tack on to any choice rate to recover its "costs" and return on investment. It would appear that choice would offer little relief to PEC's excessive rates. Besides, deregulation has been an unmitigated disaster for residential ratepayers.
The solution for cost-effective rates at the PEC must come from within where a responsible Board of Directors suddenly renews its commitment to fiduciary responsibility, or must come from without in another member-owner-led lawsuit settlement.
Merle L. Moden
Wimberley, Texas
27 comments:
Moden is the same person that decided to play lawyer in the EAA v Day case regarding groundwater rights.
Despite having no interest in the case, lack of filing any amicus briefs, and failure to otherwise participate in any way in the case, Mr. Moden waits until after a decision is rendered and then mails a two page letter to the Texas Supreme Court to correct them on their decision.
After reading the letter I have to conclude that Mr. Moden is but a conehead. Perhaps he should re-read the EAA v Day decision. His writings should be put in context. The city of origin says all you need to know. Believe it or not Mr. Moden, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled that use of governmental entities to deprive property owners from access to the groundwater beneath their property (particularly cutting off all access) will constitute a compensable regulatory taking.
As for the current article, you have noted that PEC's costs are 6.18¢ per KWH. This left 4.68¢ for "controllable expenses, depreciation, taxes, interest, and return on investment". How about actually subtracting out the depreciation, taxes, and interest to come up with a number that might be worked with? One can't tell what the "controllable expenses" are despite your rants about "fiduciary duties". By the way, feel free to point to support for your claim of "fiduciary responsibility" and please clarify to whom you believe any type of "fiduciary" duty might be owed.
Well don't count on representatives from Wimberley pushing anything but ways to spend co-op member money on various "save the _______" (fill in the blank) campaigns.
Vote Linda Kaye Rogers!
http://www.rogersforpec.blogspot.com/
Well I don't personally know several of the candidates. But I do know Larry Landaker to be a person of integrity who supports renewable energy and open governance on the board of directors. I fear that Ms. Rogers would be a throwback to the ways of the old regime. She has tried twice to win a board position and lost twice. I am disappointed that Patrick 'Let's Make A Deal' Cox is running unopposed.
Regarding the rates. I have continually asked PEC what the rates are for different times during the day. After being rude many times, they finally told me that, due to the contract with LCRA for the electricity, they cannot reveal the rates.
BUT, they did admit that the rates during peak hours was TWICE what the rates were at non-peak hours.
Do they offer these rates to you and me if we use more electricity during non-peak hours, by having timers on our water heater, and programming appliances (a/c and heat) appropriately? NO, they do not, and despite their "We are looking into it" answers, they have not come forward with a time based metering for the different rates that THEY pay.
So there is your co-op...THEY, and then there are the members...you. So how they value you?
Patrick Cox is a power player; Linda Kaye Rogers is power hungry; PEC is the only power in town unless you switch to solar power for which PEC provides no incentives. Which of you candidates will give power back to the people? Yes to solar incentives and no more wasting of our power money for PR power projects! Vote for a real power transformer.
I suppose that solar power is an expensive proposition to set up because of the expense of so many solar panels. And at present PEC is only a power distributor, not a generator. Hence our coop is dependent on other sources (i.e.,LCRA) for the power, and we're subject to whatever price LCRA wants to charge PEC.
BUT PEC could get started on putting together some solar power plants, making our own power. Since those plants are so expensive, PEC could add to them little by little. Eventually the coop would be completely solar run.
Good for the planet (no fossil fuel emissions) and good for customers (not dependent on prices and service from an outside entity)!
A poster above says PEC told him/her that rates are twice as high for peak hours as for non-peak.
Just how the heck are they monitoring what time of day I wash clothes? I realize they can probably easily track what total amounts of power are used for each hour of the day, but how are they supposedly tracking when I personally am using peak or non-peak power? Seems like that would be a "bookkeeping" record that I'm not sure they are equipped for.
I was told flat out by a PEC customer rep on the phone that I am charged the same high rate whether or not I use my appliances during so-called peak hours. No difference, no savings. So what IS the big deal about conserving during the peak hours???
I guess if we ALL simultaneously cut back during peak time theoretically LCRA's peak rate cost to PEC would drop and theoretically we customers would be charged less as well.
I would love to see some interaction here from the candidates, especially the local incumbents Landaker and Cox, with us common folks.
Happy to join in the conversation. It is correct.At the moment, the rate is the same no matter what time of day you do your laundry. And Lou is correct. When we lower demand as a cooperative, LCRA's peak rate drops and we benefit indirectly. I favor a radical change in our rate design. If our goal is truly to lower demand, we should be incentivizing our members with a time of use rate. Such a rate rewards the individual member with better rates for washing closthes at 10pm than at 5pm. I intend to make energy policy my number one priority after I am re-elected.
By the way, please feel free to join me on facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/ReElectLarryLandaker
Larry,
When you said "...we should be incentivizing our members with a time of use rate," just how do you plan to do that? If it were so easy to implement, I think PEC would already be doing it instead of merely telling us (on your watch) that it's already happening.
Why did you allow PEC to mislead us?
That's got to be a nightmare for the PEC computer department to contemplate -- even if they had the computers and software necessary to do it. I think you're letting us think it would be a lot easier to accomplish than it really would be.
Landaker sez, "I intend to make energy policy my number one priority after I am re-elected."
Why didn't you make it your first priority during your current term?
Also you say, "If our goal is truly to lower demand, we should be incentivizing...." Those 2 things have nothing to do with each other. The demand for power won't be lowered by incentivizing; it will just be spread out over different times of the day. People still have to take a bath and wash their clothes -- demand won't fall.
Seems like you're just spouting some high-falutin' phrases without knowing what you're saying, bud.
I am totally blown away! Thank you Larry for answering. My wife bet me five dollars not one of you PEC candidates would care enough to answer. I support your idea of a time of use rate if it will reduce our bill and I will support you for reelection if you can make it happen. Thanks again.
Larry, about 3 years ago PEC changed from a flat rate of about $1,100 to a per-foot rate (I forget the exact amount) for installing pole, line, transformer and loop at private residences. I have walked from the nearest street pole to where I would like my meter located and calculated a cost of $5,100. No way I would pay that. Why was this change made and is PEC looking at reducing this cost to members?
Good luck reducing demand and rates across the board. I definitely support that and will send you my vote if you mean it. You might want to start your rate reform with the big commercial users and charge them more not less for higher usage.
Also, I think you should look into PEC's $$ rebate incentives for customers who upgrade to more efficient AC systems like heat pumps. It's a good thing, but electric power is still used and I doubt this particular incentive is reducing demand much at all across the system. Have you checked lately? I imagine though it is a great program for AC and heat pump manufacturers.
Thanks for your time.
Landaker's response is the same old "We are looking into it" answers; they have not come forward with a time of day based metering.
You've been on the Board of PEC, but now you say ya wanna do something IF ELECTED??? What the hell have you been doing, waiting to get your second term, like a president?
Time based metering is done all over the US. Remember when the Co-op put in the meters that could be read automatically (and you no longer had to read the meter, write the reading down, and send in the card)? And your bill started getting more expensive?
Automatic meters can be designed to tell PEC when your power is being used, and you could be charged less for using power during non-peak hours.
Hey Landaker--WHY AREN"T YOU DOING THAT NOW ?? YES, I SAID YOU, SINCE WE, AS PEC MEMBERS, HAVE BEEN SCREAMING FOR YEARS ABOUT IT.
And don't give us another lame "we want to help our members move forward and establish the faiirest rates, blah, blah, blah."
Do it now BEFORE THE ELECTION, and you might get a second term. What does that pay anyway?
To the shrill troll who keeps trying to diss Larry Landaker, please come out from behind your anonymous shadow, especially if you are one of the candidates. I can think of only one with such a shrill personality but I won't mention names.
Btw it takes a whole board and teamwork to accomplish the kind of rate restructuring Landaker wants to implement. I think he's on to something and I'll give him credit for at least wanting to make it a priority for the next elected board. What have you got to offer?
I'm not a candidate, but I do not trust my Co-op.
I don't trust their "automatic meters" that supposedly read my power use. Ever since they put them on, my bills increase very year.
No, hell no, I will not reveal my name, and have PEC increase my bill for speaking out. But I am not a candidate, and will maintain my anonymity as this blog allows.
But Mr. Landaker, care to answer my questions about time based metering, your FAILURE to enact rules that allow such metering, despite members suggesting such on your own PEC "My PEC" blogs on the PEC web site?
No, you never answered my questions there with any substantive answers, and I doubt that we will hear any answers here.
Yeah, the PEC can likely identify me by my postings on their web site, and the correlation between those posts and this post. But still, I get no answers from MY CO-OP.
Voting against Landaker will give me more joy than nikel beer night at the rub in tug.
It's a bad year when Linda K is the more sane of the two candidates.
PEC might not be the cheapest electricity around, but my all-electric house, including my well pump, only cost me $69 this past month.
Not bad for a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home in the hills.
And yes, I have used my AC quite a bit, run my fans all the time and don't skimp on comfort and convenience.
It can be done, just wish I was doing it with solar or wind.
...and as an addendum, I can only imagine what my bill might be if I had any decent insulation in my house.
Jasper, I call bullsh*t on your $69per month bill, unless you take 1 gallon cold showers, run the a/c less than 2 hrs per day, and never cook or heat anything with electricity..and your admitted poor insulation
Maybe you left off the 1, as in $169?
Nope, I did not leave out a number.
My bill last month was $99, this month, only $69.
I live alone, in a 1200 sq. ft. house.
I am not all that frugal, don't like to be hot or cold.
This is the truth, no BS.
Maybe he doesn't have a refrigerator, a TV, a computer, light bulbs, or a microwave, and cooks on wood. Nothing wrong with that!
Or they have a defective meter...in which case I would be quiet about it. It seems that the average bill (from PEC's mailout) is about $140-$150 per month.
$107 here for April and the house is kept comfortable. Multiple computers, TVs and other gadgets in around 1,700 sq. ft.
I got all the modern conveniences. Computer, multiple window unit AC's (which is cheaper than central), washer/dryer, well pump, indoor plumbing and I cook with electricity, not charcoal. Not often, anyway.
I love to check on my daily use with PEC's MyUse Energy Analyzer online. Some days, I only spend like $1.50 or $2.00 on power. In the winter, it is much more as my heater is not nearly as efficient as my window units. Maybe next year, I will buy a better heater or actually use my woodstove more often.
One day last week, I stayed too cool, cooked, washed clothes and watered the beds. It was a whopping $3.65!
I am not kidding you. It can be done and I am not suffering. I hate suffering.
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