ALEC Corporations - Legislation to Cover Incompetence

PUC = Public Utilities Commission

New PUC member might hinder Boulder’s municipalization

By Jefferson Dodge

Why did I find this info?

Cause I was following this:

The controversy over the appointment of Glenn Vaad, a member of the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC),   …   ALEC, a group that has campaigned to overturn renewable energy standards around the country.

ALEC’s “State Legislator of the Year” award in 2012

chair of the ALEC Task Force on Commerce, Insurance & Economic Development,

Vaad received ALEC “scholarships” for traveling to the council’s conferences in 2006, 2007 and 2008 — from a fund that Xcel Energy contributed to

Not only does the PUC deal with energy issues – but they deal with telecom and transportation issues which could be very dangerous for Colorado across the state with this ALECer in the PUC

Within that article was lots of interesting things.

First

Elsner and Friends of the Colorado PUC point out that Xcel is a former member of ALEC

Former member – really???

ALEC records show that they were Wisconsin Private State Chair in 2011.

Michelle Aguayo, a spokesperson for Xcel, says her company hasn’t given money to ALEC since 2010, but “if you’ve been affiliated once, then they’ll brand you for life.”

ALEC records show that they were Wisconsin Private State Chair in 2011.

“if you’ve been affiliated once, then they’ll brand you for life.”

Once?

 “It’s a charitable donation.”

Bullshit!

That's what happens when you have an organization like ALEC registered as a 501c3

Tell the IRS to Investigate ALEC

Then she goes on to bash those who are trying to put sunlight on ALEC’s vile behaviors.

 “They will use any and every tactic they can to bolster their positions, whether they are valid or not. And unfortunately, you get some groups that, if they say something enough, they believe it, whether or not it’s true, and they want everybody else to believe it as well, to validate their opinion. Do we quit giving money to anybody and everybody because of possible ties somewhere down the road?”

Well that’s a little pissy if you ask me.

This is another example of corporations who give ALEC massive amounts of money - and then walk away and whine afterwards.

These corporations KNEW what they were doing when they funded ALEC.

Yes - they should forever pay the consequences

 - unless they also pay to UNDO the damage done by ALEC legislation.

Then you run into ALEC “model legislation / policy that Xcel is knee deep in.

(For their part, Xcel officials say they are considering making people with rooftop solar panels begin paying a fee to use the company’s electric lines, just like their other customers do.)

Still trying to wrap my head around this one.

Homeowners pay huge amounts of money to install solar (I'd luv to have solar, can't afford it) and then ALEC fake legislators decide that solar owners should pay the energy companies because they are pulling themselves off the grid

– AND offering the energy companies their excess energy 

           – well, I’d quit that right now.

Then more interesting stuff:

 “Xcel Energy just received approval to add 170 mega watts of utility scale solar to the Colorado system,” she says via email. “We are adding this not to fulfill the state’s renewable energy standard [RES], but because it was cost-competitive with natural gas and benefits all Colorado Xcel Energy customers.

Now isn’t there a GOP mantra and ALEC’s that solar is "supposedly" more expensive?
      because it was cost-competitive

     because it was cost-competitive

Hmmmmmmmm

  

More interesting stuff:

Some say Vaad’s appointment increases the likelihood that the PUC will require the city of Boulder to cover the cost of building new substations and other infrastructure it condemns and takes over from Xcel rather than requiring the two entities to share such infrastructure, an outcome that could significantly increase the pricetag of municipalization.

City of Boulder condemns corporate infrastructure

         condemns   - there's gotta be a really good reason for that!

Then the City of Boulder has to pay for the utility companies new infrastructure?

Really – really?

Is this coming to your town next?

Now it was my assumption that when I paid my utility bill that the utility company was budgeting some of that money for infrastructure maintenance.

Kinda like when I budget money to maintain my house.

Now – think about it

the utility company has gouged us for decades 

– taking our money 

– and were too damn stupid to budget for infrastructure? 

All that money went for fancy offices and huge executives salaries and they didn’t bother to budget for their infrastructure?

We’re seeing this in the telecom industry also – where they are doing the same thing.

the telecom company gouged us for decades 

– taking our money 

– and were too damn stupid to budget for infrastructure? 

Then had ALEC legislation passed so they don’t have to maintain their old copper wire plants – forcing everyone to go to VOIP, even when the VOIP or cell coverage is non-existent or totally unreliable in some parts of the country.

Anyhow - - -  

So now we have ALEC corporate members who have not run their businesses well –

Corporate failures really 

   – but they are ALEC members 

   – so they write legislation to cover their incompetent "free market" butts.

   – The proof is in the ALEC legislation that the corporations are now buying.

Telling the taxpayers – your city has to pay to rebuild our corporate infrastructure or we (the utilities) can walk away from obsolete infrastructure and let you, clean it up.

It doesn’t matter that you, the customers, 

     have paid us billions and billions and billions of dollars 

     over the years to the utilities

– we (the utility companies) were incompetent corporate nincompoops 

   and didn’t put away any money for infrastructure maintenance.

So - - - - now we (the utility companies) 

want taxpayer dollars 

to maintain our (the utility companies) infrastructure

AND ALEC has legislation for that or will have legislation for that
    - cause we paid them to.

We – the consumer get SCREWED twice.

For paying the utility companies for all these years – assuming they would maintain what they own.

For electing ALEC legislators – who give (the utility companies) a free ride on taxpayer dollars by passing ALEC legislation that forces us to pay, in some manner, for ALEC corporate members infrastructure.

Well - - - -I’ll be damned – we’re all dumber than I thought.

Good thing – we, the taxpayers, are so damn rich 

     – so we can pay and pay and pay and pay

While corporate executives – take and take and take and take.

We have to eliminate the ultraconservative, pro-corporate American Legislative Exchange Council.  Their interests are not those of the taxpayer.