Consumers Urged to Conserve Power

* Recently we received a helpful energy calculator from Southern California Edison. It is to be used to inform us on how to conserve energy. While it may be useful to know that we now must abandon our electric blankets and stumble about in semidarkness because we are being punished by the utilities for squandering precious resources, I take issue with the tone in which these conservation efforts are being “encouraged.” Every bureaucrat who mentions rate hikes speaks of them in a punitive way, as if consumers are turning up the power in order to watch their meters spin ever more speedily. What with alarming hikes in our natural gas bills, most consumers are doing all they can to keep their electricity consumption low.

Those who sound so vindictive in raising rates (perhaps to cover up the government’s total ineffectiveness in transitioning successfully to deregulation) would be better off to try to at least “sound” sympathetic to the struggling consumer. Better yet, they should convince Edison and PG&E; to exercise their considerable clout and buying power to purchase for each of their customers a six-pack of energy-saving light bulbs.

CHRISTINA WALDECK

Torrance

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Conservation will lead to even higher prices. In the early ‘90s we had drought conditions. We were asked to conserve to the tune of 20%, which we did. Guess what? Our rates were increased because the water company could not afford a reduction in revenue of 20%. The same will happen with the electric utilities.

BILL BECKER

Chino Hills