Mailbag: Water bills rising no matter what you do

I read Phronie Sanders highly interesting letter in the July 27 Forum page titled “Inside the ‘Home Electricity Report,’” and realized that I was one of her problems.

We have, starting with the period of Aug. 20, 2009 to Oct. 20, 2009, received five “report” letters dealing with energy conservation. Accompanied by those nauseating “happy faces,” we have been advised that we have used 20%, then 25%, then 23%, then 11%, and finally, another 23% less energy than “your efficient neighbors,” which by Glendale Water & Power boundary guidelines, would include Sanders.

You cannot install air conditioning in one of the old Spanish fortresses like ours, and I do not trust automatic sprinklers, as they work great until you go on vacation, then run for eight hours and you get a bill looking like an Obama stimulus project. So, this allows us to supposedly meet the city guidelines, and to exceed them, as to conservation.

Having kept all those bar graphs that accompany the monthly bills (the government hates people who keep the statistics they send them), and drawing a measuring horizontal line, I have, over the last 12 to 18 months, shown a 9% to 20% savings on water and electricity.

What has been our reward for all of this? We are seeing a $15 to $30 increase in our billing. In addition, we have all been advised that since we have engaged in this conservation — allowing succulent plants to expire, lawns to get a little more brown, and perspiring more than usual — that we have offended the Lord God Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and can expect a 3.8% surcharge on our bills.

So I say to Sanders and her cat: Enjoy yourselves. You will get the shaft no matter what you do.

Jim Weling

Glendale

Glendale Water & Power not looking smart

To Phronie Sanders (“Inside the ‘Home Electricity Report,’” July 27), we can sympathize with you and your letters from Glendale Water & Power. We checked with a few people in our neighborhood, and it seems that we all get those “You have used 33% more electricity than your neighbors” letters.

We think Glendale Water & Power sends out those letters to everyone just to annoy us all. Just wait until you get one of those swell new “smart meters.” Not only will they tell you how much electricity and water you have used, but they will be able to tell you exactly what time of day you used it.

Big Brother at work again!

Donna Kirkland

Glendale

Hateful In Theorists are at it again

Surprise! Surprise! My two favorite “Christian” pastors — the Rev. Bryan Griem and Rev. Jon Barta — again show their true values of fear, anger and hate at any group of people that is not part of their “clique.”

Within a month, more or less, these two “Christians” have preached their hate in the pages of the Glendale News-Press against gays and lesbians (“In Theory: Same-sex couples as parents, July 10), immigrants and now “Islamists.” Is it no wonder why so few go to these men’s churches? Who would want to go to their church, let alone their heaven?

Jesus must be weeping over those who call themselves his followers!

Mark Satterlee

Glendale