No taxation without electrification

Get ready to get charged up this Monday. That’s when Duke Energy starts pulling an additional $55.3 million a year out of our pockets. The president of Duke Energy Ohio said that the increase was needed to cover the higher cost of delivering electricity. Duke enjoyed profits of $1.4 billion in 2008, in spite of expenses incurred through storm damages. More about this later.

I don’t believe the significance is as much in the numbers as the unauthorized taxation. The Ohio Consumer’s Council calculated that the utility needed no more than $39 million to cover higher cost. And yet, Duke was able to negotiate that up to the $55.3 million.

As part of this settlement, Duke will “contribute” money to reduce low-income electric bills, underwrite efforts of People Working Cooperatively and The Ohio Partners for Affordable Energy, etc. Huh? Duke isn’t contributing anything. They’re getting a nice revenue bump. The “contributions” are coming from the additional money being squeezed out of the bill-paying consumers and being reallocated to others through Duke.

That isn’t to say the causes or organizations aren’t worthy. The point is that confiscating our money and reallocating it to others, or the benefit thereof, is taxation. Put any semantic dress you want on it, but that’s what it is. Did you vote on that? Did your elected representatives vote on it?

Furthermore, deciding who gets that money and for what end is setting public policy. Did you vote on that? Did your elected representatives?

Let’s return to the storm damage expense before you get all weepy about that in Duke’s behalf. It’s estimated at around $31 million and the PUCO instructed Duke to submit a separate request for that. Want to guess who foots the bill?

Can you imagine getting a letter from your butcher or lawn service? “Dear Customer. Our maintenance costs ran higher than we expected last year and we decided you should take the hit for that instead of us. Here’s your bill to be paid over the agreed upon rate you already remitted.”

And aren’t these the people who are always trying to sell us repair insurance on our end of the system, as in underground lines? Somehow, it went from “the expense to repair equipment on your property is your responsibility” to “oh yeah, and any of our other stuff, too.” If the repair insurance is such a great idea, why didn’t they buy it for their equipment? Why are they hitting up us for the damages?

In the mode of our day, Duke has plastered their web site with “green” concerns. Make no mistake, the paramount green goal is how to get yours.

Just for laughs, try to deduct the enforced contributions on your 1040. Good luck on that one.