EatonvilleNews

"Seek Truth Without Fear"

Electric Utility Survey Results

Memo

To:            Mayor Pro Tem Jarrett
From:       Greg Wilder
CC:           Town Council

Date: November 7, 2003
Re: Electric utility questionnaire

The Town mailed out approximately 908 questionnaires to each of our active electric utility customers. The deadline for returning the completed questionnaires was 5:00 p.m. on November 7^th. The response to date has been excellent with over 324 questionnaires returned. Statistically a return rate this high would be considered exceptional and well representative of your constituent Eatonville Light customer base. Kerri Murphy, the Town’s Planning Technician and Public Works Department Administrative Assistant has been entering the responses and comments into a spread sheet/data base for easy analysis and summary.

This information will be available and provided to you during your council meeting of November 10^th. I am attaching and enclosing an agenda bill intended to encourage discussion and subsequent direction. If you elect to move forward with additional analysis and the first phase of a process leading to a negotiated sale, a motion and appropriate budget authority will be necessary. The first thing the Town must do is to secure the services of a qualified expert/consultant to appraise our utility in order to establish an actual cash value. Other tasks that likely will be needed include an identification of deferred maintenance, remaining life value on certain capital equipment and facilities, and a general performance analysis. Ancillary items may also include an independently determined (forward looking) rate analysis, etc.

You, the Town Council, together with Mayor Parnell and Mayor Pro Tem Jarrett, are to be commended for your direct approach and your open willingness to address this matter. The analysis and future course of action obviously has both operation and political overtones. It takes a great deal of courage to face an issue like this and move it forward to resolution.

I would personally like to thank you for having given me the opportunity to begin this process for you.

(Publisher's Note: This information was presented to the Eatonville Town Council November 10. The council tabled the issue.)

Graphs by F. Gregory Wilder 11/10/03

Citizen's Comments

Compiled by Kerri Murphy

Town of Eatonville Survey Comments/Questions

1. Will Ohop remain a co-op and will we have shares?
2. Keep up the good work!! But don't want the light crew to lose their jobs.
3. What does it matter? The Town does what it wants anyway, nobody wants the huge devil.
4. The Town needs to start accepting electronic bill payments.
5. Next SALE would want the Fire Dept.
6. Eatonville is the most unorganized,mislead, worst managed elec.utility ever worked with!
7. What are Ohop's qualifications? Just who are they?
8. The equip. is old, but isn't the major portion of the problem caused by substantial devel.?
9. Is the "consulting economic advisor" the same as the consultant that advised there was plenty of water and later changed their mind?
10. Make sure that when employees are hired they are experienced in their field of work.
11. A change has needed for a long time. Even if Ohop Mutual only contracted their labor it would be better than what we have.
12. Have only heard good things about Ohop Mutual.
13. Get it done!
14. I always thought that the elec. Rates should be less than Ohop Mutual, their far flung lines which require much brush cutting have to cost much more / customer
15. It should have been sold a long time ago. Ohop Does all of the major work and the Town would not have to have all the equipment and employees.
16. If we need to modernize the system then it will need to be done. I am concerned about raising rates when wages don't go up. It is already tough enough to pay expenses.
17. With the Town dealing with the sale, we are sure to get another SHAFT!
18. Do what will help the MOST people, not just a select few!
19. Have been a customer of Ohop for 40 yrs. -always looking forward to ways to better serve their customers.
20. Please think of the businesses in town when working on the system. Outages should be planned for evening hours and proper notification given to each business. Not the newspaper!
21. The Town of Eatonville has no reason to be supplying the elec. To the town when there is another elec. Co. that totally circles the town. I feel a company like Ohop Mutual can be much more efficient that the Town of Eatonville operating an elec. Co.
22. Maybe it would help people not have to pay $400. Elec. Deposit.
23. SELL
24. Give other town questions better use of the money now used to produce elec. Get rid of a totally inefficient electrical manager.
25. Not in favor of the rates increasing. How do you measure your so called use of Kilowatts? The chart on our bill has never made since…
26. What happened to all the $$ in the light fund?
27. What effect will all the new devel. Have on the present rates?
28. RATES are more important!
29. Hope this lower the basic rate down to what Ohop pays. The Seniors should get a discount.
30. Very important to save $$$$$.
31. It does not make sense for us to do what Ohop can do better and it cost LESS!!!
32. Town should be able to save $$ with less employees in the field and office.
33. Continue doing the BEST FOR ALL!
34. Eatonville has the highest rates around. Anything that can be done to efficiently and cost effectively provide electricity should be done!!
35. Eatonville should organize itself under a form of City Gov. that would provide means for raising $$ to support its growing infrastructure demands w/o selling its util. Or otherwise placing the responsibility for pub serve in the hands of private int.
36. Best idea I have ever heard!
37. Increase response, 0 to little rate increase, upgrades to system paid by Bldg. Permits.
38. Consolidate Eatonville Fire Dept. w/ Dist. 15 Headqtrs. - they staff 24/7. -Better protection. Great to see Eatonville getting with it!
39. Impressed with the advantages of a co-op. Garbage should be separate from the town.
40. No rate increase if you sell… NEED LOWER RATES
41. Power bill jumps $20.00 with no reason.
42. Having the billing all on one stmt. Helps the budget and helps keep cost down.
43. Rates are too high now!
44. Too many outages - this last spring if I was w/Ohop in 1 mo. I would have saved $22.00
45. Favored at this time. Previous experience w/Ohop has been very good. Excellent company-good supporter of their community which is important for all customers.
46. NO BRAINER! SELL
47. Great idea - let someone handle the elec util. that does this as their main line of business.
48. DO NOT SELL YOUR ONLY ASSET & INCOME PRODUCER !!! WAKE UP!
49. YOUR RATES ARE TOO HIGH!
One BILL, One CHECK, Good Service - LEAVE AS IS!!
50. NEVER SELL - they want to steal your assets. They are worth over 15 -25 million. Do they want to take over Eatonville for a long time? Every time a new Mayor comes in they try to steel the asset. DO NOT SELL OUT THE TOWN. You will accountable to the town if you do this!
51. Ohop Customer for many years has been very satisfied. (X 4)
52. INCLUDE THE FIRE DEPT.
53. If there was a choice in town they would already have Ohop as their service provider.
54. You need to implent a way for the homeowner to sell back un-used pwr. / There should not be an extra charge.
55. Bills are to high - rates increases come faster than his income increases!
56. Include the Fire Dept. to be covered by District 15.
57. YOU'VE LOST YOUR MIND!
58. TOE RATES ARE EXCESSIVE.
59. Hope this doesn't effect the jobs of the Utility Workers.
60. Have heard nothing but good about Ohop Mutual …in favor of the change.
61. Sounds like a smarty move!
62. The Sale- What terms and decided by whom? Need several Public Hearings with unlimited Q/A from the Town's people. Would Eatonville Residents have a voting membership in Ohop Mutual?
63. Town should be more customer sensitive when doing work within easements -
64. Feels that by uniting the elec. This will make the company much stronger.
65. Our family conserves but our power bill keeps increasing.
66. What about short term cost? Sell ONLY if rates go down!
67. SELL !!! They don't know what they are doing!
68. Slow down the housing development! Plan for green-ways.
69. There is no economy of scale to Eatonville owning a electric utility.
70. It appears that we do not have qualified men to work on the pwr lines or equip.
71. SELL our aging system and move on! Let the company that is operating efficiently handle our power needs and lets focus on water. Our town is a jewel…it can grow into a prosperous small town - the possibilities for this town are endless.
72. Should have sold the elec. Along time ago. Make sure elec.employees get taken care of w/jobs.
73. Service and control should be kept in town.
74. Why are base rates so high. Sell to Ohop.
75. Ohop in the past has run a more efficient operation.
76. Power bill is much higher than when they were on Ohop.
77. Hard to complete the survey w/o seeing the price proposals for water utility.
78. Ohop has base rate of 11.00 and KWH for power is less.
79. KWH usage is the same but my bill has doubled since 1993.
80. Get the hell out of supplying Eatonville - let someone who can provide decent service.
81. Sale would result in short term savings - cost of improv. Would be seen in rates hikes.
82. As business owner - outages impact business resulting in closures.
83. Eatonville is the highest elec. In the area…why?
84. Very much in favor of the sale of the electric utility to Ohop.
85. 9 Years ago low income Seniors received a discount on Garbage and Sewer. Would that be forth coming with the sale of the power?
86. Why so many power outages?
87. I have had Ohop before, was very satisfied.
88. Don't sell, you may save a little now, but you can lose in the long run.
89. How will the sell effect our rates on the other utilities? Funds have been used to support police and everything else.
90. Only sell if you can save customers money and the services improves.
91. Ohop Mutual surpasses Eatonville by far w/ lower rates and most importantly customer service, they treat their customers the way they want to be treated, unlike the TOE office staff.
92. TOE utilities are old and will need a lot of upgrading- too much expense to rate payers.
93. Ohop is very reliable and pleasant to do business with - I can live w/their rates more than TOE's.
94. Any savings would be great.
95. Get out of all water, phone, light and ground water disposal. You are suppose to be a town of concerns, not a utility co. in any way shape or form.
96. If the sale would not effect the way I can pay all of my util. bills on one stmt.
97. Too many unknowns…need more information.
98. Do it quickly please.
99. People in this town are on fixed income. Rates and late fees cause hardship
100. Rates are too high. Town currently employees too many people who accomplish little. Consequently our rates are high and not affordable.
101. You need to keep all positive income utilities or this town will die.
102. You must make sure that Eatonville gets a fair deal and notify patrons of the details.
103. You are higher than any other utility.
104. It would seem to that if all of the information in the letter was correct the best choice would be to sell the elec.util. -The Town does not have the $$ to upgrade.-The service will be improved by selling.-if it includes a decrease in rates that is even better- You did not include any negative reasons for not selling the util. are there any?
105. Town of Eatonville is not honest with their customers billing -
106. Change certain personnel that work at Town Hall to promote better customer service & atmosphere.
107. Is there consideration for the current employees to be hired by Ohop Mutual?
108. Quit expansion beyond the Town finances.
109. Town will do what it wants to do anyway-survey a waste of $$$$$
110. Town should do a "Rate Comparison" with other providers. The comparative cost should be shared among town users. It would be more efficient to have a larger provider. As a new resident -very disappointed to hear about the aging infrastructure and the need for significant capital improvement. Really appreciate the survey! and the chance to provide feedback.

Back to Top

Back to Front Page

We Care!