Back to Benghazi
Lets get something straight once and for all and see if everybody can use some logic and wrap their minds around this, especially you Kevin Bracken.
Obama lied to the American public when he stated that the attack on our facility in Bengazi was caused by a derogatory video, Susan Rice went on numerous TV shows for a week and also stated the same thing, Hillary Clinton stated the same thing numerous times and the Obama state department spent $50,000. on a video stating the same thing for counties in the middle east.
Now how can anyone logically believe that a different narrative was given to the families of our four dead Americans by Hillary Clinton?
Thomas Nickel, Lakeport
Hearing the frustration
A recent article (“PG&E Rates,” Feb. 16, 2017) serves as an important reminder of why customers tell us they want more ways to take control of their energy use and manage their bills. It’s true rates have gone up and the way customers are used to paying for energy is changing. And we know these changes can be frustrating for customers as they manage their monthly expenses.
The tier reduction and High Usage Surcharge were developed jointly between PG&E, the CPUC and many consumer interest groups, to align customers’ costs to the service provided and encourage extremely high energy users to conserve energy. The surcharge is 40.14 cents/kWh which was recently approved by the CPUC. For details, please visit: pge.com/highusage.
We are here to help you take control of your energy use and bills with a number of tools and programs that give you the information you need to make the right energy choices for your family. All of us who live or work in Lake County are ready to help you answer your questions about our programs or the best rate for your needs. For more information please visit us online at pge.com/ratechoices or call our rates hotline at 1-800-743-0514.
Carl Schoenhofer, Senior Manager, Local Customer Experience, PG&E’s Humboldt Division
Help control the bill
I have been watching my PG&E bill very closely for the last several years, and have become familiar with its details, so perhaps I can explain some of the variances customers are experiencing:
On page 2 of the bill, there is a chart showing the Electric “Tiers,” that is to say, the points at which the pricing changes. Tier 1 is your “baseline,” or the amount of kilo Watt hours (kWh) you can use at the lowest price. Tier 2 is from that number, up to double the “baseline.” Tier 3 goes from the top number of Tier 2 on up.
Bills vary in number of days: our bill for the period from 1/18 to 2/15 covered 29 days, and our usage was part way into Tier 2; our previous bill, for the period from 12/16 to 1/17 covered 33 days, and surely would have gone into Tier 3, because of the extra 4 days, except that we were on vacation, and had turned the heater off.
Here are some things a customer can do to manage his usage:
If you don’t have a smart meter, get one. This will allow you to see your usage by year, by month, and by day, and perhaps identify what causes electric use to spike. When using the graph, be sure to include the weather.
Get a set back thermostat (some are available for $30 to $100.) You can set it to lower your heat at night and when you are away, if you have a regular schedule. Otherwise, lower the temperature a few degrees if you are leaving for the day, and at night.
Sign up to get alerts. We got an alert about a week into the last cycle estimating the amount of our bill if we continued usage at the same rate. One Summer, we got an alert saying we would be going into Tier 3, wherupon, I went to Walmart and got two window fans, putting one at one end of the house blowing in, and the other at the opposite end blowing out. I turned them on each evening, when the outside temp lowered, leaving them on all night, so we had no need to use the AC. We did not go into Tier 3.
If you get such an alert in the Winter, discontinue or reduce use of resistance heating: clothes dryer, oven, plug in heaters, electric stove top. You might be able to avoid Tier 3.
I hope this helps some of you to have more control over your bills.
Janet Swedberg, Kelseyville
Mandate?
Every single Republican president, except Bush Jr., since 1904, carried California. Except for Nixon in 1968, they all received more electoral votes than Trump’s 306. True, he won, but not necessarily the mandate he believes. With Arizona, Hawaii and Alaska not yet in the Union until 1959, the earlier president’s percentages are higher. The greatest win since Reagan not so true, with Bush Sr. getting 426.
1904- Roosevelt: 336 electoral votes
1908- Taft: 321
1920- Harding: 404
1924- Coolidge: 382
1928- Hoover: 444
1952- Eisenhower: 442
1956- Eisenhower: 457
1968- Nixon: 301
1972- Nixon: 520
1980- Reagan: 489
1984- Reagan: 525
1988- Bush: 426
Ken Elston, Kelseyville
