Letter: Transfers are putting utilities in jeopardy

What really needs to happen regarding the transfer of GWP funds is the City Council needs to make sure the charter is being complied with, and if it isn’t to amend the charter so that it is. Secondly, the city manager and his staff along with the council need to realize and fully understand that our utility desperately needs to be maintained and the future cost of doing this is going to be extremely high due to aging infrastructure and new environmental mandates, along with terrorism, earthquakes and fire hazards. As the electric systems exist today, if there was a blackout in Southern California, the Grayson plant would not be able to supply all of the power required for the city. By continuing to take a large chunk of revenue from the utility, it puts the reliability and capability of the utility in jeopardy. The city manager and City Council are not seeing the big picture. If we continue to go down this path our city is going to be in trouble. If we are going to be a top-rated city we have to start with making sure our life-line services of electricity and water are top priority, not sidewalks and streets.

Other utilities doing business in Glendale are being charged a lower franchise fee than the council is charging its own enterprise company, the GWP. Transfer fees should be in line with what they charge the outside companies. If our rate payers don’t wake up to this then after the dust settles we’d better get ready for some large bond sales and rates that will double. This you can bank on.

Larry Moorehouse
Glendale

Editor’s Note: The writer is a retired GWP manager.