EDITORIAL: Council should consider all options to help ratepayers
By The Gazette editorial | |
Proquest LLC |
The aging, fire-damaged
Meanwhile, the utility's governance structure is flawed. It's overseen by nine elected volunteers, members of council, stretched so thin they could justify new labor laws. Each has motivation to keep rates low while in office. That's a good thing, until it results in kicking the can down the road by gambling with deferred maintenance, neglecting risk management and encumbering ratepayers with dangerous debt ratios. All are in play.
As seen recently, the council was oblivious to a fire risk identified in an engineering report by the utility's insurer. The report warned oil may leak onto a hot pipe and cause fire, and it happened. Someone could have been killed.
Given the state of the utility, arguably misgoverned for decades by politicians in temporary positions, it may be time for change. Maybe, as a Utilities board advisory committee recommended, it's time for a separate board of directors staffed by experts in the field.
And maybe, just maybe, it's time to consider selling off the electric portion of the utility to another provider who offers redundancy, financial stability and an enormous economy of scale.
One such provider,
No one opposed to this need panic.
Yet, it's entirely possible the people who own the utility will never see diligent consideration of an offer or have the option to vote on one. The council, in its early response to the letter, acts as if it owns the utility.
"Not on my watch. Not a chance," said Councilman
Pico, Miller and Knight owe their elections to Utilities employees. But the utility doesn't belong to special-interest employees or the council.
Utilities board chairman
The council does not have control of rates, as seen after the Drake fire. It resulted in substantial residential and commercial rate hikes. It does not control avalanching federal regulations. It seems to lack control of the
"If we sell, we have no control of it," Bennett said.
Wrong. Xcel operates under strict franchise agreements with the communities it serves. A contract would arguably give council more control, as it could be enforced by the courts.
Bennett added: "The money (Xcel's) goes into the pocket of the investors."
We're in that circumstance today. The utility owes more than
Please stop with boisterous platitudes like "not on my watch," and "not a chance." This isn't a game, and the council is in no position to be so cavalier. The electric utility belongs to residents of Colorado Springs. They deserve a full vetting of all options that may help them.
Copyright: | (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |
Wordcount: | 606 |
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