20181217Comment.pdf

Diane Holt
From:[e-mail]
Sent:Friday,December 14,2018 8:43 AM
To:BeverlyBarker;Diane Holt;Erik Jorgensen;Matthew Evans
Subject:Case Comment Form:Byron Barker
Name:Byron Barker
Case Number:
Email:[e-mail]
Telephone:[phone]
Address:2106 E STATE ST STE B
Eagle ID,83616
Name of Utility Company:Eagle Water Sale To Suez
Comment:Commenting on Eagle Water Company proposed sale to Suez.
For the record,I am completely against the sale to Suez.
I have been a customer of Eagle Water for almost 20 years.I do not know the owners nor have any connection with the
company at any level except paying my bill monthly water bill,I never have I felt that the service was less than expected.
We have always received notificationyearly on water tests and compliance,mandated by the State or the EPA.I don't
buy into the media spin that Suez is propagating about how substandard the system is and the $13.4 million that they
will need to reinvest is to replace meters and so forth,this almost subliminally tries to convey that Eagle Water Company
is akin to Flint,Michigan,through their costs to repair the system.Everymeter that I have had set on the new homes I
build have been brand-new meters,Suez would lead you to believe that somehow they are setting 50-year-old corroded
lead based meters and that they would have to revamp all of Eagle waters system,they would also lead you to believe
that all the pipes are bad.However the new subdivisions that I'm building in seem to have brand-new pipe in the
ground.This is Just a ploy to justify their price increase.I know Shocking!
I understand government agencies like things easy,In their quest to make things easy for themselves they want one
company to provide service for water,electricity,trash,or any other things that they manage.This all sounds good in
theory,the government agencyget to make their lives easy while the end-user continues to pay more and more because
of lack of competition.
Once you allow big conglomerates to monopolize a market you have effectively aided in the elimination of competition.
Once Suez is the only game in town what stops them from raising the price,year after year or at the expiration of each
contract?How is it that the Eagle Water Company has gone decades without raising their water prices and provided
the same service that we will get with Suez.How is it that the Eagle Water Company is a small business who has
provided more than adequate paying jobs to the citizens of Idaho it employees,resulting in good paying jobs from
management positions right down to the guys who put the pipes and meters in the ground ,thus keeping jobs and
profits to be reinvested back into Idaho .How is it that a massivecompany like Suez with its centralized management,
centralized payment centers and a corporate structure that routes all profit away from Idaho somehow is not be able to
compete with tiny little Eagle Water Company?When you effectively allow a Trojan horse to come in and monopolize
the water system in our city what happens when you become dissatisfied with their service or their prices get out of
control?This is already their intent notifyingeveryone that their prices are going up with a big-time percentage increase.
This is a textbook example of what the Chinese business model is -Buy up all the small businesses that compete against
you or make them look like they are not doing an adequate job and run them out of business,own 100%of the market
share,ensuring that no startup company or small business has the capital to invest and compete with you.This model
ensures that they will never have competition and that the Idaho Public Utilities Commission will never have a option to
deal with anyone but them,effectively holding the Idaho Public Utilities Commission hostage.
1
When multiple small businesses compete in the public utilityarena or any other arena for that sake all the laws of
economics are satisfied,profits stay in and are most likely spent in the state supporting other small businesses,thus
stimulating growth and reinvestment in the state of Idaho.If one small business is not doing a good job another small
business can bid on that job providing either better service and pricing,ensuring that prices can't be rigged or fixed.
I am completely opposed to the monopolizing and dismantling the backbone of Idaho,which is the small business.I
encourage you to oppose the sale of Eagle water company to suez to keep jobs,fairness and competition in the
rnarketplace.
Sincerely,
Byron Barker
Unique Identifier:184.99.116.199
2