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Show Currently (3 Speaking $7 NUECA ! t i By MOON LAKE ELECTRIC, ASSO., INC. : As we stated in our first column, it is the policy of the Association to provide our members with facts. It is not -always easy. Some of the hard facts you ;i must know are unpopular. But we have Sj a basic belief: Moon Lake Electric I' Association is your cooperative and you :! have a right to know. Recently, our staff and consultants began working on a Cost of Service Study. This study tells us how much it costs to serve the various classes of consumers such as: residential, seasonal, large power, industrial, irrigation pumps, street lighting, etc. We do this so that we can determine the rates, based on the cost of service so that they will be fair and equitable. Moon Lake's rates have for some time been the lowest in our area and among the lowest in the nation. Certainly Cer-tainly it is one of the major objectives of your cooperative to keep them that way. Good rates are normally the product of effective management. But there are many outside forces at work that are difficult to control; such as: State Regulatory Commisions, State I and Federal laws, and special interest groups determined to dictate your j lifestyle. If rates drop below the cost of f doing business they must be adjusted i accordingly. This is the point Moon Lake is at right now. yS Our lives revolve around electricity ' i and the many necessities it provides, j There's no going back to the "good ol' days", and who would want to? Besides I higher bills, the Association gets the 4 most complaints when power is 5 knocked out in an area for some reason. ;! We all have trouble coping for even a ! brief time without lights, TV, ranges and especially heat And what about J electric can openers, skillets, blankets, 1 clocks, refrigerators, washers and j dryers, drills, saws, and the endless list ' of other electric items we depend on every day. All of these "necessities" we've just mentioned will cost you several dollars more next year than they did this year. Everything is going up, and don't think we don't feel it right g here at the cooperative. r Poles, envelopes, trucks, wire, c gasoline, paper clips, labor, operating I costs are rising just like your groceries, j clothes, and appliances. You can't stop ! ! intiauon and neither can we, but we all can promote efficiency and con- 5 . servation. ; 5 You must have electricity and we said a long time ago that we're going to J. provide it. For many, many years we were able to produce and deliver it to you at prices that npvfr seemed to (J, increase (and sometimes actually uj decreased). But today the cost of building power plants is almost 700 2! percent higher than it was in 1970. In one power plant being built now, 2 federally required equipment to OOj remove sulfer from coal is being added in) at a cost of more than $89 million and g this is equipment that takes a lot of I power to operate and does not produce one kilowatthour for your use. And you j know who'll have to pay for this. All of f us. What we've been telling you may not have been what you wanted to hear, but it's been the facts. Electric bills will 1 continue to rise and we all must realize gj and understand why. We hope we're being helpful to this" end. 3 f j jj The General Manager of Moon Lake If.' Electric, Steve A. Claim, encourages g members to call, write, or stop in to discuss the concerns that you have regarding your future power supply. Mr. Glaim will be in the Rangely office ! on Monday, July 21 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 12 noon and 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. He hopes that interested members will stop in for a visit. |