20040428Comments.pdf

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LeI'"fTi;J Jomt School District No. 391
Office of the Superintendent
800 Bunker Avenue
Kellogg, 10 83837
www.sd39 Lk 12.id.
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Fax [phone]
March 17 2004
Jean Jewell , Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472 W. Washington St.
O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0074
Dear Members of the Board of Commission:
On behalf of the Kellogg School District, I must oppose Avista s proposed increase in
gas and electricity rates in the Silver Valley. We are a school district that struggles
financially due to an already depressed economy. The unemployment rate and the
poverty rate are among the highest in the state. Our property values are considerably
less than similar property in the Coeur d' Alene area. ,
This all contributes to the financial struggle that the Kellogg School District has
experienced in recent years.
There are months that the Avista utility bill for the school district exceeds $40 000. The
proposed increase will hamper our efforts to maintain financial stability even more.
Sincerely,
Greg Godwin
Superintendent
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'ECE!\!ED r;~1~:J Joint School District No. 391
Office of the supehriteiid~t
800 Bunker A venue
Kellogg, Idaho 8~~fu1t C~PR 16 f\!'l 8: 52
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Telephone [phone]
Fax [phone]
April 13 , 2004
Jean Jewell, Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472 W. Washington Street
O. Box 83720
Boise, ill 83720-0074
Dear Commissioners:
As members of the Board of Trustees in the Kellogg School District, we must oppose A vista
Corporation s proposed increase in rates for the gas and electricity customers in the Silver
Valley.
The Kellogg School Districthas one of the lowest tax bases in the State ofldaho. Thus, we have'
and continue to struggle financially. This increase will severely affect the resources we have to
provide adequate education for our students.
On behalf ofthe 1450 students in the Kellogg School District, please vote no on the proposed
Increase.
?Zo Bob Stovern
Chair
Mark Schram
Trustee
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Ron Wood
Vice Chair
Dwayne Layton
Trustee
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Idaho Public Utilities Commission
O. Box 83720
Boise, Idaho 83720-0074
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March 18, 2004
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Commission Members
This letter is inform the IPUC that I strongly urge you to consider the people who
would be affected by the requested increases in both natural gas and electricity. I know
there are many who live on a fixed income having to cut spending in essential items such
as food and medicines to be able to keep heat and lights on.
My mother who is 84 years of age has recently had to move into town and rely on
natural gas for heat because of her loss of eye sight. Her previous home was heated by a
wood furnace which she could no longer maintain keep filled with wood. Upon moving
back to town being faced with a bill for natural gas requiring approximately 25% of her
monthly Social Security which amounts to just under $600 per month.
Myself, being 64 years old and medically retired within the last year have quit
heating with wood and had a new furnace installed switching to natural gas as I can no
longer continue to get my wood in as I did when younger. My wife also has asthma and
can greatly benefit from the cleaner gas heat.
We here in the Silver Valley have been subjected to many hardships throughout
the years with few job opportunities remaining leaving most of the residents either retired
or receiving poor wages. We cannot afford higher utilities!
I read that A vista has spent over $200 million on needed upgrades since 1990
without being granted a rate increase, which doesn t reflect the fact that A vista has
increased the users fee by approximately $4.00 for meters on both gas and electricity,
which amounts to approximately $8.00 for many homeowners.
In conclusion I wish to state that I don t believe the rate increase is justified and
would like to see A vista become more reliant on efficient operations and not rely upon
the expectations of the IPUC to grant an increase for utilities anytime their shareholders
return or dividend doesn t attain the desired 15 to 19 %. In 1988 while working at
Sunshine Mining Co. we gave concessions of over 26% in wages alone never to get it
back.
I thank you for reading this letter and hope it may have helped you decide in the
matters regarding A vista request.
Sincerely,
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Bobbie T. Finlay
O. Box 204
Pinehurst, Idaho 83850
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, .tif~'Your 1Ett~' dated June 22 and am coocern~abOut your
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From:
Sent:
To:
Subject:
Ed Howell
Tuesday, April 13 2004 10:04 PM
Jean Jewell; Ed Howell; Gene Fadness; Tonya Clark
Comment acknowledgement
WWW Form Submission:
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
9:03:31 PM
Case: AVU-E-04-1
Name: Tri-Pro Ceadr ProductsStreetAddress: 1122 Hwy 2
City: Oldtown
State: 10
ZIP: 83822
Home Telephone: [phone]
MaIl: steve10triprocedar. com
Company: Avista Utilities
mailing list yes no: yes
Comment descriptIon: I feel the proposed rate increase would have HUGE negative impact on
our bussiness. We are a cedar remanufacturing plant in Oldtown, Idaho and are one ofAvistas largest customers in north Idaho. Our power bill averages $40,000 a month. withAvistas proposed rate increase our rates would go up $10,000 a month and add $120,000 of
cost to our bottom line for a year. We are a small family owned bussiness that has 65
employess. We have been a stable employer in our comunity of 2500 people for over 15 years
and have adapted to the ever changing world of the forest products industry quite
successfully, learning how to succeed in an area of mill closures and a constant loss of
timber related jobs. Since we are a family owned bussiness we are satisfied making a
modest profit as we don t have a large corporate headquarters somewhere to answer to. A
rate increase like this could run us out of bussiness. It I S sad to think that everything
we have worked for over the last generation could be closed down and put 65 families out
of work over something that has nothing to do with all the enviromental , saftey, or supply
relatd issues we have battled all these years. Something we have absolutly no control
over. This is a problem that we can t fix like Avista wants to fix their problem, by
simply raising our prices to our customers. If we were to raise our prices to customers
26% they would go elsewhere to get their cedar products. And we would go out of business
because we can t be competitive. We have accepted every rate increase Avista has had over
the last 10 years. We have taken advantage of every energy saving program Avista has
offered and have substantially decreased our power usage over the years. And our reward
for doing a good job? Raise our rates $120,000 a year and force us out of bussiness. If we
were making huge profits and could afford to loose another $120,000 a year I wouldn t be
writing this. But $120,000 is most. of the net profit we made last year. Combine this with
the 46% increase in our medical insurance this year (which equates to another $132,000
annually) and we would've lost money last year. And 3 out of the last 5 years. I know all
costs go up and Avista ' s costs are no exception, but raising prices 26% in one year is
straw that will break this camels back. There has to be some kind of a compromise in order
to keep bussiness ' s like ours from going broke. I can t imagine having to tell my 65
employees that we are closing down and they ll all be unemployed because the power company
and the insurance company have run us out of bussiness. And the State of Idaho stood by
allowed them to do it, even approved the rate increases that caused it. I think I'll let
you -guys come up and make that announcement to our crew. Please consider bussiness like
ours and employees like we have that will have their lives destroyed if you approve this
increase. And please keep me informed on the status and progress of this issue as it has a
very DIRECT impact on the future of Tri-Pro Cedar and its 65 employees. Sincerly, Steve
Linton, General Manager, Tri-Pro Cedar.
Transaction 10: 4132103.
Referred by: http: / /www.puc. state. id. us/ scripts/polyform. dll/ ipuc
User Address: 69.41.128.242
User Hostname: 69.41.128.242