Baseline Rates Unfair to Customers

Re “$5.7-Billion Energy Rate Hike Is OKd,” May 16: Whom is the PUC kidding? I have no problem with consumers picking up the majority of the electricity rate hike, as we will end up picking up all of it anyway. Economics 101--any business that cannot pass its cost increases on the customers goes out of business. Mary and John Q. Public pay all of it in the end.

The kidding is all the smoke about the baseline. If you take your Edison bill and do a little math you will find that the electric company says you only need 20% more power in the summer months than in the winter ones. Taking my bill for the last two years, the consumption during the summer was 80% more than during the winter and that’s with the thermostat set at 80 in the summer, 66 in the winter and off if we are not home, plus a new house that is energy-efficient and tight.

In the last two months we have replaced all lights with fluorescent ones, we have only the light we are using on, we have not run the air conditioner or heater at all and our house is all gas except the refrigerator and washer (both of which are new and high-efficiency). With all of that we are still over 130% of baseline--in the springtime. What happens when the temperature hits 117 as it has the last three years out here?

Chris Daly

Yucaipa