My gas bill has gone up 15% to 25% every winter for the past few years. I’m paying about 70% more for the same amount of gas as I did three years ago.
Looking back at the recent legislative session, I wondered why the Legislature would want to do the same thing to my electric bill. SB224 pretty much demands that a hefty chunk of my electricity comes from coal, even when other forms of electricity are far cheaper. This is in contrast to Michigan, whose public service commission recently required that utilities provide the lowest cost electricity, without favoritism to any type of power.
SB224 was passed in the name of reliability, which is a great concept. Except that Rocky Mountain Power (RMP) is confident it can keep the grid reliable without coal. I have more confidence in RMP’s engineering skills than the Legislature’s. It feels odd to say this, but I think RMP has my interests at heart more than our elected officials.
The Legislature was really happy it gave me a small tax cut this year. I wish I wouldn’t have to use all that money, and more, to cover the inflation they are causing.
Steve Glaser, Holladay
