I was randomly selected to fill out a comprehensive survey from Great River Energy. Full-time general rate customers are paying between two and three times the price for electricity at the same time of day as neighbors who are on special rate programs. It should be noted that these special rates do nothing to encourage reducing the use of electricity but rather can lead to excessive, frivolous, and/or wasteful use of electricity. At a minimum, Arrowhead Electric Cooperative Inc. (AECI) needs to look at a tiered rate schedule for special rate programs.
Years ago, the monthly AECI newsletter regularly discussed smart meters and the benefits that would accrue to rate payers. Now that the price of electricity has soared and broadband is being implemented, we never hear about smart meters. If general rate customers had the choice of using cheap electricity in the off-peak hours, there is no doubt that the vast majority of laundry, dish washing, baking, water heating, auxiliary heating, etc. would be done then. Rather than offering all sorts of special rates and rebate systems, let the customer decide whether or not they want to use cheap or expensive electricity.
The current rate structure cannot be justified as fair to all rate payers. For whatever reason, it seems the AECI Board is afraid of smart meter pricing. The transparency of AECI’s rate structure is more similar to a commercial operation than a customer-owned co-op.
One last item, the AECI Board at every opportunity has appealed to customers to write their representatives to discourage the use of “green energy.” By doing so, they are being selfish and shortsighted and are in fact passing the many burdens of “dirty energy” on to their children and grandchildren. We need a forward-thinking CEO to lead AECI through these difficult times.
As such, I would encourage all recipients of the survey to consider the above items when filling out the survey.
Glenn Gilyard
Hovland
Leave a Reply