Oh, I'll Give You Vituperate

vituperate \vy-TOO-puh-rate, -TYOO-, vi-\, verb:
To find fault with; to scold; to overwhelm with wordy abuse; to censure severely or abusively; to rate.

Yesterday's word of the day was vituperate. And indeed, I felt like vituperating APS. That's Arizona Public Service for those of you not in Arizona. Yesterday I discovered this lovely document in my mail.That's right. A public notice that they are about to raise our rates, again. And the worst part is that they're calling this an "interim rate increase". Yeah right. It reminds me of when the Nazis asked the Jews in Germany to register themselves for the purpose of counting. And then they made it illegal to exist if you're Jewish. And then the Nazis started killing the Jews.

So, maybe my example is a bit over the top, but come on. Who do they think they are kidding? Interim rate increase my foot! I would like to know when the rates will go back to it's current price. Also, what about the declining price of fuel? Are we going to see any relief from the power companies? I doubt it! Are they going to ask the Corporation Commission if they can lower the price of electricity? Is that in the plan?

And before you go feeling sympathetic for APS, let me enlighten you of the recent profit announcement. Oh yes, APS (Parent company is Pinnacle West), just posted an almost $140 million dollar profit. (Which is up about 50% from this quarter last year.) Check out the full AZcentral.com story here. Here's the bottom line for us power-consumers.

In addition to the 9.4 percent rate increase that would bring the monthly average household electric bill up about $11, APS has asked the Corporation Commission to grant the utility an interim increase that would raise bills about $4.66 in the meantime while the lengthy rate hearings take place.

Did you see that? Already they are hoping to increase the cost to us consumers by 9.4%, and the interim rate would raise it about $5.00 more, a month!

Aparently, Pinnacle West has a hard time resolving regulation issues with supply and demand. "Analyst Philip Adams of Gimme Credit research said "but (Pinnacle West) has historically had a problem getting timely regulatory relief to meet rising costs and a return on invested capital to support the growth." And we consumers pay the price. Sounds like mismanagement on the part of Pinnacle West. Yet their executives all receive bonuses.

Please be careful who you vote for on the Corporation Commission. They are the ones who determine whether or not these rates increase or stay the same. I'll keep you posted about this one. I may go to the hearing and vituperate for a few minutes!