PUBLIC NOTICE PAGE 8 >, «ay Energy Decisions a: Since that time, we have re- People are capable of making decesions about energy= related issues, particularly those which most closely affect our lives. CAre you tired of watching your utility bills go up to make some changes. ; ana up--and up? Have you ever wondered what the searched many energy issues, intervened in Kansas dy "Feel Adjustment Clause" on your electricity bill Power and Light rate increase hearings, built a li- ns? Are you tired of hearing about higher oil brary dealing with energy issues, put out a monthly : : ey ee a ae pay ine. and See for energy newsletter, and worked to stop the construct- pec Pages» WO would like to share with you er / gasoline? Do you sometimes wonder about the safe- ion of a proposed nuclear power plant at Burlington, of the Aithige we We learned these past months. There Bey of nuclear power plants ? Kansas. is much more to learn and much work to be done be- , fore we can have meaningful input into energy policy; d It hasn't been easy. Most of us are workers and stu- Please joinus, We meet every Sunday evening at eae ee ee ection dents. All of us are volunteers, Yet one conclusion 6:30 PM at the ECKAN center at 710 Massachusetts about energy formed the Peoples Energy Project, in We have reached through all our efforts is that people Street. If you can't come by, then please write to us an effort to find the answers to these questions, and an become knowledgeable about energy , and that at Post Offiee Box 423, Lawrence, Kansas, 66044. GasGuzzlers | Organizing to Keep Rates Down | r rice of gasoline is going up. ast November, when the Peoples Energy Pro- costs to the hearing site just to be there. As for lo- monen ea od Calton get Suse This high ject heard that the Kansas Power and Light company cation, wa should all the hearings souls ee nee in price hurts the people's standard of living--all for the (KP&L) wanted to raise electricity rates by 13%, we ee en ees ae ie in o eae es profit of big oil stockholders (such as Vice-president decided to organize customers to fight it. Before a ve a : ates ; He ae e a e nee et 5 Rockefeller), President Ford says he wants the price utility company is allowed to raise your rates, it note me oa oA a eS oe an ae ea + , of gas and oil to go up so people will buy less gas, must first get permission from the Kansas Corpor~ ee fo . Re opeka,. is made things a to thereby easing our dependence on foreign oil imported ation Commission (KCC). The KCC is a board of simpler for the utility. into the United States. In reality, Ford wants tode- three nae te eee eae _ oot crease our need for foreign oil without decreasin: level, who claim e a neutral re ry body. ? 3 those high profits. Higher prides seem to have Teas But our attempts to participate in-the rate increase comprise the KCC that slants the content of rate in- little reduction in gasoline demand, since most work-, hearings showed us that instead of being neutral, the crease hearings in favor of utilities. Rather, it was ers and students have little alternative to using cars KCC officials had a clear interest in protecting the the nature of the intervention process itself. The : ~ utilit th ry beginning. KCC did not want People's Energy Project to inter - for transportation. pitndes fom Ie vent ee ee vene as a group, but asked that they come to protest as individuals. Knowing that people will have more TRIN TXT It is not merely the bias of the three individuals who WE SHOULD CUT BACK on gasoline use, both toim- First of all, the rate increase hearing was held dur~ é \ prove air quality, and to coneehwe oil resources. The ing the daytime in Topeka. How can the public have Be and influence when they are united, we demand- United States consumes 33% of the world’s energy, an equal chance with KP&L executives. to attend these ee the right to represent ourselves not as a fragment~ while it has only 6% of the world's population, This hearings, when most of us cannot afford to miss days © 7 ee eS as a single organization. At this point, can*t continue, The "third world" people (Africa, at work or school to participate? TheKP&Lexec- the i C said that we might not be allowed to intervene Asia, Latin America, etc.) are beginning to demand _utives get paid, while the public has to pay (both the at all because we were not an incorporated group, In- their fair share of natural resources. executive s’ salaries, and their own transportation corporation costs are: high, aud demands aeag daa) of paper work before the process can :be completed. Why should it cost money just to be heard? Although : t ‘ ‘ = P.E.P. felt competent enough to present our own case President Ford's plan of forced gasoline savings by : ; : ing worker d the r with higher pri d and cross-examine witnesses, the KCC demanded that Oe een Bee Seep gee ee our group be represented by a lawyer. Luckily, we its, a hi | profits, The burdvn thus falls on those least able to | DO YOU KNOW ? were able to find a lawyer who volunteered to work pay. Instead, we advocate the provision of low-cost i ; fuel-efficient transportation to replace Detroit's Hi || without a fee. current over-priced gas-guzzlers, Alternatives in- | ! clude trains, bus lines, subways, smaller cars with | | more efficient engines, bicycles, and others. While gasoline savings are being realized by these methods, | | the government can roll back ‘the price of oil to meet THE PEOPLE'S ENERGY PROJECT totally rejects ||. P.E,P recommended at the hearings that a feasibility i study be done on equalized and/or inverted rate... -structures for utilities, The KCC responded thatit ‘was beyond their power to do such a study. The KCC ~ KWH --Kilowatt hour; the basic unit of electrical |energy equal to one kilowatt of power supplied |to or taken from an electric circut steadily for the lower level of demand. Large gasoline savings TORS hour. ‘| is the only body in the State of Kansas that has the could strike a tremendous blow against pollution, since || | é i power to regulate and investigate utilities operating for most vehicles more gas burned means more ex- _| | KW --Kilowatt; 1,000 watts. within the State. If such a study is not within their — haust emmisions, Also, the contrived need for dan- ; it of ieor gerous and expensive nuclear power plants would \Watt--The electrical unit of power, or rate o | evaporate if the demand for fossil fuels (such as gas, |||0ing work. It is similar to horsepower or f0ee coal and oil) were relieved. pounds per minute of mechanical power. Be | power, then to whom does this responsibility belong ? The hearings finally ended in a KCC-sanctioned 8. 4% rate increase, rather than the 13% originally request- ed, The KCC and its staff could not be expected to — deny the whole increase request because by law they — are directed to grant a utility company a fair rate of oes ‘Fuel Adjustment Clause--The federal law that IN THE BIG CITIES, the focus must be to switch from \allows utility companies to pass along, automat- single -occupant auto commuting to convenient inex- _. | |ically, the increasing costs of the raw materials ae s Ses -pensive mass transit. Only by this method can the used in the production of electricity or heat. ae ae ae a oe ‘city air be cleaned and open spaces protected from the Thus, your utility bill may rise steadily from owned (private) utilities as the . est wavis aieceeee on-slaught of new free-ways. The new Bay Area Rap-: month to month, while never hearing ofarate | energy needs of the public y : id Transit system (BART) in San Francisco points the increase. : : way forward. Yet it still has many problems, and \ 114 A Poi ee was developed by private capital solely for profit. ||| BTU --British Thermal Unit; The standard unit ||; ee oe one ee ee eRe i New rail systems like the BART and the Washington, ||) used for measuring the quantity of heat energy, 8 g OEE OC oes Al | terests j i D.C. subway system will take time and large amounts || such as the heat-producing content of fuel. It ey meets toes ele a Sy etete ee ; e el : 1} monetary profits more important than people's basic: ' of money to complete. Money for such projects could 4 is the amount of heat energy necessary to raise 2 \, needs Energy is one of these needs: We just 7 be obtained by an extra "waste" tax on manufacturers 4% the tempreture of one pound of water one degree j8\}. get by without it. We dtust edie to ativod a aa nes and dealers of gas-wasting new cars. Until these new wv Wahrenheit. ‘ issue, rte dade and jexenoite ei aE ae ohh ee beste rapid transit systems are constructed, emphasis must (/@4== that we ioht find : re gee be placed upon improved bus service, as.in Kansas Sa ae t we might find a better way of doing things. City. Even so, many areas on the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area cannot be reached after dark, Currently, the Area Transportation oF e@ @ se Authority fare is 20¢ higher on the Kansas side, due t it Uu t oO Over= He to the lack of a sales tax subsidy. Such a tax could ; benefit everyone in the city. It would reduce traffic and pollution, making the city that much more livable. Ti tS He mee. But again, the tax should be shouldered by the real tility rates in Kansas weigh heaviest on those use- use more electricity, who have electric Tanges;: elec- = culprits, the large-car manufacturers and large-car ing the least amount of electricity. A family at or tric water heaters, and electric space heaters. People dealerships. q- near the poverty line may be paying over twice as who live in all-electric homes get.the cheapest res- much as much per.KWH under Kansas Gas and Elec- idential rates of all. Thisiis ridiculous , since all- tric Co. rates than an industrial or big commercial electric homes and electric heating systems waste is ae i ae user. (They would pay close to a penny more than much more energy than coal, oil; or gas heating sys- j j i) Seve (5 these users under Kansas City Power and Light and tenis. > SNE ASR Kansas Power and Light). 3 j food Seo ee x J e . Listed below are average costs per KWH for residen- — ETAL ITS Le tial, commercial, and industrial users under KG&E, tee Cc ge? KP&L, and KCP&L,. KG&E KP&L KCP&L FOR SMALLER TOWNS LIKE LAWRENCE, the focus Residential 2.17¢ /KWH 2,87¢ /KWH 3.02¢ /KWH will shift to smaller fuel-efficient cars, motorcycles, minibuses with variable stops, and good old human Commercial 2.24¢ /KWH 1.94¢ /KWH 2.57¢ /KWH self-propulsion, Since mass transit will have limited patronage in small towns, citizens will have to be Industrial 1,24¢ /KWH 1.28¢/KWH 1.58¢ /KWH given incentives to drive Chevetts, VW Rabbits, Toy- otas, etc., or to simply drive less, It willbe safer The largest industrial users are paying at or below to drive these cars, motorcycles and bicycles once _the cost of electricity production (1.45¢, according to ; ‘ the oversized junk now coming out of Detroit is forced KG&E), In Kansas, industry uses the most electricity Ziectricity rate structures are grossly discriminatory. — off the road, Bike paths and special bike lanes will _ and pays the least of any group rate. They are the ~The more electrical appliances you can afford to buy _ have to be built, as suggested by City Commissioner most wasteful, and contribute to the problem of cost- anduse, the less you pay for power. Electric utility Carl Mibeck. ly peak loads (higher costs caused by the use ofin- Tatesalso promote waste because they encourage the : efficient fuels during periods of high demand). The inefficient use of energy in exchange for cheaper pow- ITS YOUR CITY, your future and your mode of trans-= higher rates paid by residential users, in effect, sub-€T- Wasteful and discriminatory energy policies such ~ portation. Don*t be content to let Some planning sidize these large users. as these affect you directly--through your wallet. I'ts commission decide the future for you. Get involved time that we all get to gether and demand a little and take a stand. The utilities give cheaper rates to those residents who shake-up among the energy producers for our town.