20090323Comment.pdf

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PO Box 2387
Sun Valley, ID 83353
718 Morning Star Road
Sun Valley, ID 83353
March 18, 2009
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Idaho Public Utllitle. Co..I..lon
PO Box 83720
Bol.e, ID 83720-0074
REi Idaho Power Acct 1187885080
Hello:
Thla'etterlâln,rela..dSifòyoarrat.lf1c..e....
with th.. new,tler .ttlictur8.. alnce' 'I..t...ii.er,
we have been eXlre.ely con.clou. 'oflowerlng
our energy u.aie. We rarely turned on air
condltlonlngla.t .u..er. W. cl.an our furnac.
fllt.r. regularly. W. .wltch.d all our light
bullb., Interior and .xt.rlor. W. wa.h only with
full load. (dl.h.. and cloth..). We have neweneriy .fflcl.nt wa.h.r and dry.r (Oct 08). W.
hay. addr....d .v.ry part of our ho.. (10 y.ar.
old). Th..e are Ju.t a handful of lot. of way. w.
..rlou.lybegan co..rvlni and reducing .n.rgy.
Ini.l.nuarywehadan extre..ly high Id.ho
Pow.rbtll.W."had .n .I.ctrlcl...âfld;âljò'a
r.'pr...nt.tlv.!frô..~..ho Po..' . CO. 8 too...
ho.e to ...... en.rgy con.u.ptlon. W. have
since turned off our heat tapes on the roof,
except for occasional use, and since the last
power reading we have emptied, winterized, and
turned off our hot tub.
We feel we are very conscious of energy use and
conserve whenever possible, even though It
makes for Inconveniences. We were happy to
learn from .Ian 09 to Feb 09 we reduced our
consumption from 9304 kWh used to 8353 kWh
used.
Now Imagine our chagrin to look further Into the
bill and find out our bill was $20 hlgherll In my
wildest Imagination, I do NOT see how your tier
rate program Is going to help people that are
really consciously reducing power.
With a 4800 square foot home In the mountains,
there Is no possible way we would only use 2000
kWh In one month. The house would probably
freeze upll i don't want to pay a penny more
than i need to for power bills, nor do i want to
consume any more eneriy than necessary, but
the sting of the rate Increase and the way It Is
structured certainly nullifies our Joy of what we
thought was a substantial savings In usage.
Over ten years ago, the City of Seattle started a
tiered rate structure for water usage. We were
living In Seattle during this time. We received
many notices monthly for about 3 months ahead
of time. Our bill. .how.d u. .xactly what our
usag. for that month would look like In the new
upcoming rat. .chedule. It was well explained
and th.r.fore th.re w.r. no .urprl..s when the
n.w sch.dule klck.d In. AI.o, each household
had th.lr own tl.r. It was d..lgn.d on your
u.age during the pa.t 12 month., .valuatlng
each month. If you u..d I.ss water In .Jun. of
95 that you had u..d the pr.vlou. .Jun. of 94,
your bill was I..s. It penalized those folks
who were u.lng MORE water than b.fore. It
also took Into account how many p.ople w.re
living In your hou..hold the current y.ar (.urv.y
Includ.d In bill). All In all, It was fair and
balanc.d. P.opl. had gr.at Inc.ntlv. to think
about each time they turn.d on their faucet,
washed clothes, and wat.r.d their lawn..
It'. too bad Idaho Pow.r has done such a poor
Job of .xplalnlng their n.w rat.s, omitted
giving lot. of advanc. .xplanatlon and warning,
and providing almo.t no Inc.ntlve for low.r
u.age from th.lr cu.tom.rs with the mo.t
usag..
The tl.r .tructure being the .am. for a .mall
apartm.nt and a 4800 square foot home do.. not
make a bit of ..n.. and Is highly unfair. Who
thinks thl. stuff up? We are mo.t unhappy and
dl.appolnt.d custom.rs.
Truly yours,
~~~~
Phyllis Odell
Mark Odell
Billing address: 4111 EMadl.on St, "398
Seattle, WA 88112