The "Dollar Utility Fund" scam...

[CoolBreeze]

AEP has spent much airtime touting the "Dollar Energy/Utility Fund".

For every dollar you donate to some "poor helpless family" (think Orchard Manor) AEP will match with a dollar of it's own.

Now wait a minute: A dollar of "it's own"? Does AEP print money? No, they get all their money from YOU and me. So that means that YOU and me are in fact donating our money to the fund whether we like it or not.

AND... this "donation" reflects in the price of our electric bill each month. As we all know, AEP has had 3 or 4 rate increases lately AND......

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Appalachian Power and Wheeling Power want to raise residential customers' electric rates by 8.9 percent later this year.

The companies, both subsidiaries of American Electric Power, filed their rate hike request with the state Public Service Commission today.

Appalachian Power said this year's $118.8 million rate hike is necessary to recoup what the electric company spends for coal and to purchase power and pay for scrubbers at the John Amos Power plant near St. Albans.

Today's rate request would be in addition to a separate 7 percent residential rate hike that's awaiting final approval from the PSC. The 7 percent increase would take effect April 1.

[lastone]

Thus far we have had rate increases for:

Last winter. When decades of "neglected" lines came crashing down.

A "save energy campaign" giving out "free" CFTs.

The cost of coal and EPA mandates.

What's another 8 per cent? Well my budget just went from $36 to $50. I can assure you it won't add just another 'minor increase'.

It's all about proffit! Not SERVICE.....

PROFFIT !!

Perhaps we should find a way to "cap" these huge corporations.

They are sucking us dry.

[Cameron]

...SO MUCH IT'S SPELLED WITH TWO, "F"s!

That's how much proffit, er prophet, um profit!

[AmpedNow]

Meanwhile, how do they justify not giving social security recipients a cost of living increase for the last three years?

The fed doesn't include variations in food and energy prices into their inflation figures. Without those numbers, it makes it much easier to manipulate the economic outlook of the country by making it appear that inflation is being kept in check.

So, according to Uncle Sam, there has been virtually zero inflation over that time, as the price of most everything else besides food and energy has been relatively stable until recently. The fact that most people's budgets are dramatically affected by short-term spikes in food and energy costs is irrelevant.

As for the fixed income crowd...

It sucks to be them. But, there are elections to win.