By Antonio D. French
Filed Tuesday, July 25, 2006 at 1:10 PM
State Rep. Yaphett El-Amin was joined today by Rev. Al Sharpton in calling on the electric utility Ameren to drop its plans to raise its rates by nearly 18%. Facing millions of dollars of property damage and lost wages, Missourians should not be asked to pay even more for electricity and Ameren should be "corporately compassionate" and not ask them to, said El-Amin, who is running for the state senate. Labels: Quotables
Sharpton, who was in town for a previously scheduled event supporting El-Amin's state senate campaign, said this is a national issue. "You would think, in the midst of heightened security concerns, that power companies would be better equipped to deal with failure." He pointed to an ongoing power outage in Queens, New York as another example.
"There must be a standard set, that when power companies fail, the people should not pay the tab for their failures," said Sharpton.
On July 7, AmerenUE filed requests with the Missouri Public Service Commission for rate increases for its gas and electric services. According to the St. Louis Business Journal, the company cited major investments in the infrastructure of its natural gas business and rising operating expenses as reasons for the rate increase.
8 Comments:
I El-Amin was giving us a sneak preview of her leadership skills by using Al Sharpton to call on Ameren to be "corporately compassionate," she just lost any shot at my vote.
7/25/2006 2:12 PM
Whether or not you support the rate increase, assuming there are those that support such a thing, we all have to agree that it is grandstanding ridiculousness for Rev. Sharpton, or any national figure, to be in St. Louis protesting the recent storm and the unrelated rate increase. This is a major problem with the Democratic party. We have major members that can only fly around the country to create face time for themselves rather than really addressing issues that matter--poverty, education, crime. Let's see Rev. Sharpton and these other self-promoting grandstanders aid the United Way in taking water to the elderly or getting the elderly to cooling shelters.
Further, I am saddened by the fact that Candidate El-Amin is playing into Rev. Sharpton's self-promoting grandstanding.
7/25/2006 6:07 PM
"Playing into" Sharpton's grandstanding? It's El-Amin using Sharpton for her own benefit, and pretty effectively, I might add.
7/25/2006 6:14 PM
Travis, I agree. Ameren is doing the best they can. Up until today everyone on the news was thankful when they got their electricity back and commented on how they seen the workers doing their jobs. Others made the best of it having mini block parties to cook up food instead of letting it go bad. But to have Sharpton come in say that Ameren isn’t doing their job or avoiding various areas is ludicrous. Where was he Thursday morning, how did he help in the evacuation of elderly into buildings that had power, or how did he aid in the process of cleaning up trees and other debris so Ameren can reconnect power lines? I do not recall him calling the National Guard to help with the cleanup (even though he cannot do this anyway). Instead of complaining, why didn’t Sharpton bring in volunteers to help get storm-damaged areas back to normal (whatever that may mean)?
Having a relative who works for Ameren said he was called Wednesday night and has been working 12 hours on and 12 hours off. He also told me the call went out Wednesday night to other electric companies and people starting arriving Thursday morning. Ameren was making some headway before the second storm came in and tore apart what they had just fixed. Once Ameren gets power the workers have to go back and make permanent fixes to their temporary fixes. Right now Ameren is just trying to get power restored back to all of its customers. What makes these two storms different from previous ones is that the winds knock over a lot of old trees that were at the end of their lives. You might say as the curator of Tower Grove Park said, “this is mother nature’s way of pruning.”
Living in St. Louis for nearly all of my life there always seem to be at least one or two storms a year the causes a lot of damage. A couple of years ago Huntleigh just north of Kirkwood was hit just as hard as North St. Louis. People were out power for up to five days after the storm. Same situation many old trees were knocked down damaging power lines. Where was Sharpton then? After all there are several African-Americans who live there as well. I applaud all of those people who have been trying very hard to get everyone’s power back.
7/25/2006 6:50 PM
If you have driven past any new subdivision under construction you notice something missing – utility poles. However in urban area poles remain because of the expense of burying the lines. Ameren will have to tear up sidewalks, cut down trees, or tear up ally ways to do this in highly congested urban areas. This all has to be replaced. Then there is reconnecting electricity to individual homes and businesses. In the short term it will be a huge mess but in the long run it actually improves the landscape. But even underground has its own set of issues. Tree roots can grow around or through an electrical line or break in another high windstorm several years down the road. Then there are the burrowing animals that may chew through an electrical line. Ever seen what a squirrel can do to a transformer above ground (many transformers now are animal resistant)? Then there are humans who start digging without finding out where these utilities are. They will break a line and next thing you know half the block is out of power (I was a victim of this). In some areas conduit is laid but generally the cable you see above ground is what is buried below ground. Laying PVC conduit requires digging down a minimum of 42 inches and then gravel has to put in before the conduit is laid. Gas and water lines have this to prevent heaving during the seasons (both are at 48+ inches). In new areas of development this is easy to do since contractors strip away everything before building begins. Both sides have their advantages and disadvantages. As far as the expense I am sure Ameren will pass this along to the customers. It is hard to separate executives from the money they are making or cutting into the profit margin. I hope this provides some information to make the decision to having utilities above or below ground.
7/25/2006 9:54 PM
Something everyone is missing in the discussion about the rate increase is that all utilities on their regulated services must submit to the Public Service Commission a tarrif plan, which outlines the new rate along with reasons for the new rate. The PSC then must approve the new tarrif in order for it to go into effect. Utilities, such as Ameren, are on a cost basis, which means they are given a rate based on their costs throughout the year plus a given percent of profit for the risk taking shareholders. There is no opportunity for Ameren, or any other utility, to make additional profit on regulated services, as any cost reductions are passed by tarrif on to the consumers. Please do not take this statement as support for Ameren or any other utility, but merely as a clarification. Something Rev. Sharpton and his grandstanders will avoid dispersing.
7/25/2006 11:12 PM
Sharpton represents the worst of black activism. He is a grandstander, a profiteer, a bomb thrower, and an anti-semite.
Why is he in town for El-Amin when there is another VERY qualified BLACK WOMAN in this race? Perhaps it is b/c the other CANDIDATE refuses to engage in hate-mongering like El-Amin and Sharpton.
Just look at Sharpton's record- he tried to frame innocent men in the made up rape of Tawana Brawley. Then he incited race riots for making disgusting and inflammatory anti-semitic statements.
I wasn't aware that he was in town for El-Amin, but now it makes perfect sense. Those two are like peas in a pod. All talk, no walk.
7/26/2006 8:46 AM
If I may, I wonder why Sharpton was in St. Louis, beating up on Ameren, when ConEd is doing a far worse job up in Brooklyn? Most of us that lost power (I was one of them), averaged 4 days without. The entire borough of Brooklyn has been without it for 10 days. Yet Sharpton comes here? The high water mark for customers without power in St. Louis was around a million. 2.5 million residents were without power in Brooklyn. I respect a lot of Sharpton's views, but he's way off the mark on this one. He's a New Yorker, right? Shouldn't the residents of his city get his attention?
7/27/2006 12:35 PM
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