Look at this chart from the presentation.
Just how hard would it be to show the cumulative loss over the 3 years? Well, not hard.
Loss over initial budget: $27,516,814!
Loss over revised budget: $24,909,689!
Compare these numbers with the Mayor's numbers:
"We did have a bad year last year and I think we lost about $3 million," Ross said. "But in the five years that we've been doing this, the net is over $15 million so this is a 25 year plan not a 25 month plan."
And what is not mentioned is that the losses are continuing today as long as the long term contracts are in place.
Another area that would be improved by adding additional information is the financial impact on consumers. This chart shows the increase in retail rates for an average customer in graph form. It would be helpful if the actual numbers were also on the graph bars.
It appears the cost increase is about $20/yr for a consumer who uses 1,000 kWh, which is about the average use for 1 month.
Thus, for 1 year usage at 1,000 kWh/month, the increase in the average electric bill per year would be $240. Why don't we see that kind of analysis in the presentation.
Given that the average residential electricity consumption is about 1,000 kWh per month, it would be helpful if the median monthly consumption was presented. The median is where 1/2 of the customers consume less and 1/2 consume more than the median.
Also, a table showing the cost per kWh over the entire range of usage would be useful. That would allow individual consumers to assess the impact of the rate increases on their own usage.
So much more could be done to increase transparency! Demand more transparency from your city officials!
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