Of all the documentation I’ve seen about tonight’s public hearing on Duke Energy’s rate hikes, nothing is as convincing as this letter from an 8-year-old named Kayla. The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center.
Kayla’s mother, Heidi Martinez, says her daughter took it upon herself to write the letter, and I can believe it. While I’ve never met Kayla, I’ve seen her with Martinez more than once at meetings, asking tough questions and asserting her opinions in front of large groups.
Before tonight’s hearing, Occupy Charlotte participants will march and protest. The group plans to gather at 600 E. Trade St. at 5:30 p.m.
This article appears in Oct 11-17, 2011.
From the mouths of babes
How can you expect the residents (Your largest customer) to pay an extra 17.4% increase, (the largest increase of all your customers) when their wages have been cut over the last 5 plus years and no increases. The 1000kw monthly estimate, including taxes would be an 18.6% increase. The only increases these people have seen are food, fuel and taxes. The homeless shelters are turning people away for lack of space and funding. Most employers are cutting employee benefits whilst this “service” company wishes to increase its employee benefits and its voluntary opportunity program. In this economy?
Obviously a CMS student with those eleven spelling errors.
The ingredients in coal ash lower IQs. Enjoy your tap water.
Pointing out an 8-year-old’s spelling errors (and there are 12, actually), only shows that you’ve missed the point altogeter. Here’s hoping you find better uses for your time, Hillary’s Prostate. For instance, getting involved in some kind of group or committee for the betterment of our community or, hey, take a stand against rising energy prices! It’s sad when an 8-year-old has made some of the smartest comments on this page, spelling and grammatical errors to boot!
I notice that CL totally skirts the issue of new regulations placed on Duke (and other energy producers) by Obama and the Democrats during their 2 years of rule and what the monetary cost of those regulations will be. In addition, CL does nothing to look at how much the energy demands have grown in comparison to how old Duke’s equipment is and what its current production capabilities are. This author (reporter?) is probably thinking this is great journalism but in fact it is just something to put in the bottom of a bird cage.
Dear Pokeinthenose,
I write about energy issues, and aggregate energy news, quite frequently on the CLog and elsewhere, but assuming you’re new here I’ll share one post from Sept. 27, 2011, about how energy consumption is down: http://clclt.com/theclog/archives/2011/09/…
In my opinion, not every blog post has to be a dissertation. But, you’re right, I could have linked to other stories. I’ll keep that in mind for future posts.
And, you’re correct: Several of Duke Energy’s oldest coal plants are in North Carolina. The closest coal plant to Charlotte will be 82 years old on the 29th of this month. It was opened on Black Friday in 1929. It is quite possibly the oldest coal plant in the United States — I’m working with a couple researchers to find out for sure.
All the same, the rate hike Duke Energy is proposing won’t go toward upgrading that plant, which lacks modern air quality controls. It will go toward boosting shareholder takes and toward building a new coal plant, though … which is why I’m hearing that people are concerned, or part of why.
If you’re interested in reading some of the other stories I’ve written about that plant, here’s a link to some of my clips: http://thewordtrade.com/?page_id=1212
Thank you — and everyone else — for reading and for your comments.
Best regards,
Rhiannon Fionn
Independent Journalist and frequent contributor to Creative Loafing
I admire your patience with these numbnuts.
Thanks, John.