IS IT TRUE? September 25, 2011

IS IT TRUE that it is refreshing to read the Community Comment article by Vectren CEO Mr. Carl Chapman today where in the end he commits to send a Vectren speaker to any civic organization, church, neighborhood association, or other concerned citizen group to explain Vectren’s position on pricing, EPA compliance, and we suppose everyday life in the Vectren service area?…that transparency and honesty are admirable traits and that speaking to the community as opposed to having closed door meetings with political appointees for rate increases is a positive step?…that Vectren has had a “request a speaker” button on their webpage for a long time and that this service may have always been an option?…that this time due to the publications over the last year that have brought the people of Evansville to a state of heightened awareness Vectren will finally have to get serious about selling their customers on what they have already done?

IS IT TRUE that we look forward to attending one of these meetings and hearing Vectren address the following questions?
• It has been widely published that Vectren has been a leader in implementing EPA regulations and that is the reason for the fact that electricity is the highest in the state and 212% higher than Henderson? Estimates from utilities in other cities range from 30% to 70% increases coming in the future when they implement hardware to meet the EPA regulations? Explain how in the case of Henderson where a 70% increase would still result in a rate of between $0.08 and $0.09 per kWh leaving Vectren with at least a 50% higher rate assuming that there are no rate increases until Henderson catches up?
• Vectren recently asked for a $1.08 per month fee increase to justify investing in dense pack technology. Vectren projects after some misunderstanding that each rate payer will get back between $1.15 and $1.38 per month from the resulting savings. As a ratepayer and shareholder it would seem as though Vectren would be better off by just doing this and adding the extra $0.07 per month profit to their own bottom line? Why bother to ask for $1.08 then do a bunch of calculations to give us back $1.15 when it would be in Vectren’s best interest to just do this on its own?
• Evansville and SW Indiana share the same airport, roads, workforce, etc. with Western Kentucky. Please explain a scenario where an advanced manufacturing plant that is a heavy user of electricity would be well served financially to choose SW Indiana over Henderson or Owensboro as a location and how Vectren would sell them on that proposition?

IS IT TRUE that we are sure that there will be many more questions that are flat out personal and will tug on people’s heartstrings such as the tale of the young lady we profiled yesterday who is expected to pay for Vectren’s mistakes?…that there have been reports of people moving from Evansville to Henderson over the difference in their utility bills?…that to a working class family the difference in having a $200 utility bill and having a $600 utility bill can be the difference in eating peanut butter or having an adequate grocery budget?…that as much as we and others are likely to understand and believe that Vectren’s rates are higher due to early compliance with the EPA that having better emissions control at the power plant is of little consequence to people who are struggling to survive?

IS IT TRUE that the irony of the situation is that the particulate readings for the air we breathe when compared to Henderson shows no real difference?…that today the Air Quality Index for Henderson and Evansville are identical and are barely within the band considered to be “GOOD”?…that having similar readings are the way it is when it comes to the air that is shared between Henderson and Evansville?…that even with the air we breathe that mixing distributes the particles in a way that there is little difference?… that to have perfect air to breathe (which we don’t) but to still be under EPA order to clean up the Combined Sewer problem is sort of inconsistent?…that this is a case where the stewards of the air may be trying to do their best but the stewards of the sewer are far behind?…that the City of Evansville is the steward of the sewer?

IS IT TRUE that while the City of Evansville has done everything possible to prolong implementation that Vectren forged ahead?…that if we were a wealthy city where several hundred dollars per month made little difference to anyone that paying for both clean air and water is a good investment in lifestyle?…that we are once again faced with a dilemma when it comes to attraction?…that if we assume that the air is clean then we must explain why it smells like a sewer?…that from a homeowners perspective that we seem to have paid for an expensive ionizer to clean our air and neglected the fact that our toilet is overflowing?…that these are serious problems and that we encourage Vectren and the new city administration to work together with others to achieve an affordable balance that really can lead to Evansville being an attractive place to live and work?

IS IT TRUE? September 23, 2011

IS IT TRUE that a young educated female professional who is moving to Chicago today contacted the City County Observer regarding her Vectren bill which will be her last?…that she has been living in a one bedroom apartment in the historic district for the last year?…that all last winter her Vectren bill was in the $120 – $150 range and that she kept her thermostat at a comfortable 70 degrees?…that she was pleased with this amount as it fit her budget and she was able to keep as warm as she wanted?…that her most recent Vectren bill was a record $380 for a month that she was only home about 70% of the time?…that she thought something had to be wrong and placed a call to Vectren regarding the bill?

IS IT TRUE that the explanation that she was given was that for the entire time she had been living in her apartment that Vectren’s meter had something wrong with it that resulted in her being undercharged for the entire time?…she was told that Vectren discovered that the meter had been incorrect recently and back billed her for all of that time into a single bill?…that if she had known that the bill was really as high as it was she would have turned the heat down to make sure that her Vectren bill was within her budget even if it meant turning it down to 62 degrees and wearing a coat in her apartment?

IS IT TRUE that we are somewhat confused as to how Vectren could have had a broken meter for that long and been able to figure out exactly the number of kWh that they had under billed her for?…that this broken meter was never the less consistent in its readings and that the amount of the bill for all of the winter was about what her landlord had told her that it would be?…that seems like having a car with a broken odometer, keeping no written records, and then declaring a year later what the exact mileage that was driven was?…that Vectren is somewhat clever and may have some way of knowing exactly what was used when a meter is repaired so let’s assume that the number of kWh that she has been billed for is correct?…that even accepting that this young lady was tricked by the bad meter into using more heat than she could afford and that some compromise on Vectren’s part is entirely appropriate?…that without a compromise this young lady who is leaving Evansville will have this memory of Vectren making her pay for their mistake as she gets on with her life?…that this may influence any future decision to move back to Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that she does report that the Vectren customer service representative was courteous and offered to set up a payment plan but was not compromising in the least when it came to the amount of the balance?…that the rate charged seemed to all be at the new rate?…that given this case that the electricity that was used last winter before Vectren’s rate increase went into effect was billed at the current rate?…that some downward adjustment in this young ladies bill is in order?…that in all fairness it was Vectren’s broken gear that sent her the false signal that 70 degrees is affordable so the honorable thing to do is for Vectren to accept what she paid as payment in full, fix the meter, and accept responsibility for their dysfunctional meter instead of sticking a 24 year old with the bill?

IS IT TRUE that we wonder if this was an isolated random occurrence or if this happens often?

IS IT TRUE? September 22, 2011

IS IT TRUE that the City County Observer has done something that grabs headlines and attracts politicians like a flame attracts moths?…that we have “CREATED A JOB”?…that every time the act of CREATING A JOB or TWO with the dream of creating a larger number of jobs is announced by any business with a pulse that politicians and their posse flock around the JOB CREATING BUSINESSPERSON like flies at a picnic?…that politicians and their posse will come around with golden shovels, giant pairs of scissors, ribbons, and camera crews for just about any out of town business that creates any kind of job whatsoever?…that this is not just an Evansville thing, it is a nationwide epidemic?

IS IT TRUE that politicians and their posse seem to have a distinct taste for jobs that move here over jobs that are grown here?…that if a local company expands there is seldom any fanfare and the politicians and their posse are not seen or heard of?…that a job attracted with the anticipation of more jobs in the future is often rewarded with tax abatements, training grants, and even with an incentive check?…that when it was announced on WGBF 1280 am yesterday morning that the City County Observer has created one job that host Evansville attorney Les Shively commented that the CCO had created one more job than President Barack Obama?…that we assure everyone that there has been considerably less than $787 Billion spent by the CCO to create that one opportunity?

IS IT TRUE that after 4 years the CCO now has 4 people who are earning a part of their living from the publication?…that the number of public dollars and tax abatements offered to the City County Observer has been exactly ZERO?…that this is how it should be?…that what Evansville needs to really stabilize its economy and to dramatically reduce unemployment is 1,000 or so businesses to do what the City County Observer has done?…that it does not matter what those businesses do if each of them grows to between 4 and 10 people that will mean between 4,000 and 10,000 jobs for this region plus the accumulation of wealth that results from business ownership?

IS IT TRUE that the face of the City County Observer that many of our clients and future clients will be getting to know soon is a 24 year old young man with a BS in Business Administration from USI named Nick Lacer?…that we welcome him and hope that our clients and readers will do the same?…that Mr. Lacer is a young educated professional that is ambitious and eager to prove himself in this world?…that a rapidly growing business in a growing field like the City County Observer is one of several places in this region where a broad range of experience and an opportunity to set the stage for a life of high potential can be added to the resume’ of a person who may very well have been at risk to become a BRAIN DRAINER?

IS IT TRUE that given the nature of our writing and our mission to use publishing to further good public policy in Evansville that we do not expect that there will be golden shovels, red ribbons, giant scissors, or smiling politicians at a news conference in the CCO’s immediate future?…that if we started publishing in some other city and CREATED A JOB with the anticipation of creating 10 or 20 more that yes the politicians and their posse would be flocking around us?…that when Google, Apple, Groupon, LinkedIn, and a host of other businesses hired their first employees that no politicians with their posse came around either?

IS IT TRUE that there were plenty of politicians, their donors, their posse, and their sycophants hanging around Solyndra?…that while solar may be one of the energy options of the future that committing over $500 Million in federal money and arranging for photo ops to build a factory with no customers is just plain dumb?…that our elected leaders seem to have misplaced priorities and limited vision when it comes to really CREATING JOBS?