The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About20111206Comments.pdfJean Jewell From: Sent: To: Subject: maryelsh(§q.com Monday, December 05, 2011 6:38 AM Jean Jewell; Beverly Barker; Gene Fadness PUC Comment Form A Comment from Mary Welsh follows: - - - - --- - --- -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- Case Number: UWI-W-ll-Ø2 Name: Mary Welsh Address: 123Ø Cumberland Circle City: Boise State: ID Zip: 837Ø4 Daytime Telephone: 2Ø8-323-Ø521 Contact E-Mail: marywelsh~q.com Name of Utility Company: United Water Acknowledge: acknowledge Please describe your comment briefly: I i m very concerned about United Water i s request for a 19 percent rate increase, especially at a time when so many are unemployed, many on fixed incomes such as social security, etc. and a time of economic disaster. This is ludicrous! PLEASE DENY THIS REQUEST. United Water asked customers to . conserve water, i (which I have done- -drastically, my backyard has died for lack of watering), then says it needs more money because we haven i t used as much water! I understand their operating cost is already in their budget. Please do your job and protect us from this unreasonable request. Thank you. The form submitted on http://www . puc. idaho. gov /forms/ipucl/ipuc. html IP address is 97.121.57.56--------------------- - ----- - ---- - - -- 1 Jean Jewell From: Sent: To: Subject: bevw(§cableone. net Monday, December 05, 2011 9:08 AM Jean Jewell; Beverly Barker; Gene Fadness PUC Comment Form A Comment from Beverly J Williams follows: - - -- - - - -- - -- - -- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- Case Number: UWI-W-11-02 Name: Beverly J Williams Address: 888 E Richmond Ct City: Boise State: ID Zip: 83706 Daytime Telephone: 2083774840 Contact E-Mail: bevw~cableone.net Name of Utility Company: United Water Idaho Acknowledge: acknowledge Please describe your comment briefly: I am opposed to the current rate increase request by United Water Idaho because I believe their Customer Charge each billing period is already significantly higher than the other utilities' customer service charge . Citing my own most recent utility bills, I offer the following: - Intermountain Gas - - Idaho Power ------- - Sewer & Trash ----- - United Water Idaho - $2.50 4.00 0.00 (City of Boise) 18.10 (2 months + $9.05/month) That charge is more than double the next highest monthly service charge. There MUST be other options for UWI to meet their expense and expansion costs! The form submitted on http://www . puc. idaho. gov/forms/ipucl/ipuc. html IP address is 67.60.197.68 - -- - - - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- 1 Jean Jewell From: Sent: To: Subject: narusk(§yahoo.com Monday, December OS, 2011 5:54 AM Jean Jewell; Beverly Barker; Gene Fadness PUC Comment Form A Comment from Karen Narus follows: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- Case Number: UWI-ll-W-11-02 Name: Karen Narus Address: 5379 S. Pegasus Way City: Boise State: Idaho Zip: 83716 Daytime Telephone: Contact E-Mail: narusk~ahoo.com Name of Utility Company: United Water Idaho Acknowledge: acknowledge Please describe your comment briefly: In regards to a 20% rate increase requested by United Water Idaho, I urge the commissioners to DENY this request. In this economy it is ludicrous for them to ask for any increase. I do not believe that this is necessary for them to remain viable. They say they we have all done a good job conserving our precious Highlands Desert water supply and now we are rewarded with an increase. What does that do to incentive to save water? I would say that some people out there will be negatively motivated to not care less about how much water they use. Which I guess would be great for Suez-United Water owners because then they would make even more money. This speaks to the problem of private ownership of utili ties like water. Also to foreign ownership of United Water. This company is not owned by people who really get our situation here in the Treasure Valley nor do they care. On the UW-Suez Environement website they say United Water pledges to: 'Be a good neighbor and civic partner wherever we live and work' United Water is NOT being a GOOD NEIGHBOR! They asked us to cut down on our water usage and we did. Now, they want us to pay more money to make up for it. I ask you, does that sound like they are being a good neighbor? It seems to me that they are confused like many corporations in America about the difference between . making a living i, and i making absurd profits' every year. I agree with some of the previous comments that UW should find a different way rather than this rate increase. Maybe they could stop some of their donations to groups and just focus on providing clean water for a reasonable cost. Please utility commissioners say no to this increase. The form submitted on http://www . puc. idaho. gov /forms/ipucl/ipuc. html IP address is 71.33.4.183 -- - - - - --- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -- 1 Jean Jewell From: Sent: To: Subject: adfarreIl100(§yahoo.com Monday, December OS, 2011 3:39 AM Jean Jewell; Beverly Barker; Gene Fadness PUC Comment Form A Comment from Audrey Farrell follows: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Case Number: UWI-W-11-02 Name: Audrey Farrell Address: 3315 N. Clayton Pl City: Boise State: ID Zip: 83704 Daytime Telephone: 208- 375-7846 Contact E-Mail: adfarrell10~yahoo.com Name of Utility Company : United Water Idaho Acknowledge: acknowledge Please describe your comment briefly: Let me see if I understand the rate increase request. UWI has over the years repeatedly 'begged' its ratepayers to conserve, conserve, conserve. They even tell you how to conserve. They give away free water timers, nozzles, etc. every spring to encourage ratepayers to conserve when watering their yards. They imposed a 25% upcharge on summer water usage to further encourage water conservation. So finally the consumers start conserving, watering more efficiently, landscaping with more drought tolerant plants, not letting water run in showers, kitchens, not washing their cars at home, not watering the sidewalks/streets, etc. What did they expect would happen when everyone started conserving? That they were going to make more money? As far as needing money to update/upgrade or add more water lines, what are they doing with the money they are claiming annually as i depreciation expense i? Unless the basic general rules of accounting have changed over time, the purpose of allowing a tax deduction for 'depreciation i was to allow, theoretically, those monies to be set aside to replace/repair/update those items being depreciated. Did I miss something when I took accounting in college? I wish I could get a raise in income every time I wanted or needed something new, or needed to repair/replace something in my home. The greedy corporations still don't 'get it', i.e. that the public in general is tired of having to live on a budget only to find that corporations, businesses, etc. do not need to live on a budget. They have only to start crying that they need to raise rates/prices and apparently believe that money does grow on trees. When is enough of a profit enough? While I really didn't like our long cold, wet winter and spring, I am thankful that Mother Nature tried to help us, the ratepayer, out a little bit. Thanks to all the snow pack/rain we received I didn't have to turn my sprinkler system on until mid-June. And I only ran it until about mid-September. That saved me a substantial amount of money for the summer months. Several years ago United Water wanted to go to a monthly billing system, which would have cost them twice what it cost to bill every two months. Apparently the powers to be at United Water are still out to spend more than they need to, when they are the ones that should be conserving even more than their ratepayers. I urge the Commission to deny this ridiculous request, especially with the current state of the economy. 1