Posts Tagged ‘SRP’

SRP is Greedy!

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

 

SRP or as it is formally known, the Salt River Project has gotten very greedy.  Few customers know that SRP was granted a monopoly of providing electricity for much of The Valley in exchange for becoming a “publically regulated” entity.

 

Last year during the height of the energy crisis after gas spiked in Phoenix at $4.17 a gallon, SRP was granted rate hikes (plural) and a new fee structure.

 

Now, only months after two consecutive rate hikes and after implementing a new fee structure which now takes more money out of every household it serves, SRP wants another huge increase of almost 10%!

 

I just got my highest electrical bill of this summer and while it shows I have used significantly less energy than the same time last summer, this bill is much higher than expected.  It is equivalent to my highest bill last year.

 

This year in order to conserve limited resources, namely the Kent household budget; I reduced air conditioning in order to save money.  I raised the temperature of the Kent home 5° degrees from 79° days and 78° nights to 83° days and 84° nights.

 

SRP has recommended doing this for years and SRP has traditionally claimed that for each degree change in cooling there is a 4% change in one’s electricity bill.  Employing SRP’s logic from their advertising, I calculated I could save 16% and possibly 20% off my previous bills.

 

Not so!

 

Because of SRP’s new parasitic rate structure my energy rates and yours have increased so that SRP is already taking 16-20% more from each household in The Valley.

 

Since we’ve (the public) granted SRP a monopoly, there is nothing we can do about it—especially since SRP continues pushing government regulators and oversight boards with back-to-back rate hikes!

 

Why does SRP want even more money?

 

While SRP claims energy costs have been sky rocketing the truth is gas prices has dropped significantly since their previous two rate hikes and rate structure change.

 

If SRP is trying to claim that so-called “green” sources of energy have increased in costs, then SRP needs to manage itself better and stop pursuing energy that is not cost effective.

 

SRP has had program after program “giving money away” in the form of “rebates.”

 

SRP needs to stop mismanaging money and stop giving money away in such programs.

 

Why does SRP wants more of your money?

 

To build new power plants!

 

SRP wants to make even more money.

 

Profit increase is fine but capitalizing off our households is not.

 

Why can’t SRP raise capital by offering bonds as public utilities have in the past?

 

Why can’t SRP raise money the traditional way public utilities have by letting those who have the extra resources to invest do just that and allow them to capitalize and profit from their investment?

 

Why not?

 

Remember, I said:

 

The purpose of government is to make money off other people’s money.