As a result of the objections I raised at the public hearing held last week at Chesapeake College, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has ordered that Delmarva Power and Light republish and hold new hearings where the public will be given the opportunity to voice their opinions on the proposed 14 million dollar, 2.6% rate increase.
I thank those constituents who contacted my office with concerns about the lack of notice regarding the Delmarva rate hike hearings. A public thank you should also go out to the Kent County News who raised additional concerns about whether Delmarva had complied with the previous order’s publication schedule.
As I explained earlier, the previous notice was completely ineffective in that it failed to inform the public that the scheduled hearings were being held to obtain the public’s input regarding Delmarva’s request to raise their rates.
Every week, I hear from constituents who tell me about how the economy has negatively impacted their lives. Folks are being over taxed at the local, county, state and federal levels. Fees and tolls are being increased. Many are directly or indirectly affected by unemployment, have friends or family in bankruptcy or are facing serious credit problems. I don’t recall anytime when the financial future looked so bleak, to so many.
Delmarva should be aware of how ill timed this rate hike request is and should understand from this summer’s numerous tea parties and town hall meetings the current mood of the public. This is just NOT the time to ask for an electric rate increase. If anything, we should be entitled to a decrease in the rates as the cost of producing energy has fallen significantly since their last request for a rate increase in 2007.
The PSC will not know what you think about the proposed rate hike unless you participate in the process and TELL THEM.
Now, there will be an opportunity for everyone to tell the PSC how this rate hike will affect your family. As soon as I obtain the new dates for the hearings (which have to be held prior to November 13th according to the order issued by the PSC), I will be posting them here or you can feel free to email me directly at delegatemikesmigiel@gmail.com.
So, please, make plans to attend one or more of the about-to-be scheduled hearings, write letters to the PSC (at the address below) and to the editor of your favorite newspaper, reply to this blog and/or others, Twitter, Facebook and whatever else to help us get the message out to the people of the Eastern Shore, the PSC and Delmarva Power and Light that we cannot afford another increase in our utility bills.
