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Uploaded: Tuesday, February 10, 2009, 9:55 AM

Feds seize 7 boxes of Palo Alto Utilities records
Search warrant executed for records on employee qualifications to install or repair gas lines

Posted by YouShouldKnow, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2009 at 12:11 pm

Too bad. I was hoping they were reviewing the 'random spike of more than a couple hundred dollars for one or two month' bills that people are getting.

Posted by Craig, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2009 at 12:23 pm

YSK:

Has anything been written about that? Because we were honestly floored by how much our bill went up for December/January. I mean, yes, I had x-mas lights up, but the increase was so high it couldn't be explained by that.

So, did other people experience that as well?

Posted by Kate, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2009 at 12:37 pm

Our gas bill and electric bill spiked for December even though we weren't here for ten days. Same thing for friends of ours. Gone ten days. We only turned on our Christmas lights for about 3 hours a night. Not that many lights. We've converted almost all interior lights to the new energy savers. How accurate is this meter reading? How trained are the readers? It's cold today. We've turned the heat waaaay down and are on our way to Avenidas. It's warm there.

Posted by Civitas, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2009 at 1:25 pm

Don't tell me: yet another Palo Alto investigation ...

Posted by YSK, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2009 at 3:01 pm

I don't know craig, I know my moms suddenly spiked to 700 and she didn't do Christmas lights this year and kept the heat turned down. On each different site about any utility people are reporting one or two high spike out of norm bills and so far nothing has been written about it. No one has looked into it. Most of them are from Dec '08.

Guess the paper is too busy deleting socially relevant un PC commentary to have the time to actually launch an investigation.

Posted by Sonny, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2009 at 3:37 pm

Meet the new boss---same as the old boss. Can the Utility Department ever get it right? Let's bring in some experienced people and cut our losses with the incompetent management.

Posted by bill payer, a resident of the Ventura neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2009 at 3:52 pm

Get the facts right...

Palo Alto's electric rates have historically always been much cheaper than PG&E's.

I looked into the gas rates and while Palo Alto's residential natural gas rate was an average of 9% higher than PG&E's for 2008, it was cheaper than PG&E for 8 of the past 10 years.

If you are low income, be sure to ask if you qualify for the Rate Assistance Program and Residential Energy Assistance program.

Posted by a Palo Alto parent, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2009 at 4:26 pm

I think we're still paying off the Enron scams, and will be for some time.

Posted by JP, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2009 at 5:24 pm

Wow, I thought it was just us getting hit with the hikes. My wife and I live in a 2 bedroom apartment and don't even use the gas heater at all. We keep all the lights off when we are not using them and use a small space heater in our bedroom. Our utility bill for December was STILL $550 bucks!

Posted by brian wilson, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2009 at 5:46 pm

Director Fong claims she knew nothing about any wrong doing regarding employee/contractor certifications when the Feds raided the Utilities Department friday and now we learn through the city attorney that an internal investigation was completed 4 to 6 months ago regarding this same complaint. Why is it so easy for these people to lie? Why is it necessary to try and coverup everything and anything? It really makes one ask if maybe its time to clean house of all top and mid level management employees within the city and start with a clean slate with a philosophy that its ok to tell the truth. Hopefully this federal investigation will start the process, but past history tells us that denial of wrong doing will prevail. There is a deep seated dysfuntional lack of honesty of what is right and wrong within the city's top echelon.

Posted by YouShouldKnow, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2009 at 10:11 pm

Again, another freakish December utility bill. Everyone should speak up on this forum if they had an oddly high utility bill! Then we should each and every one take our complaints to the City!

Posted by Freezin in Palo Alto, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 10, 2009 at 11:03 pm

Methane sequestration - in an attempt to minimize our impact on the climate.

Written in a cold house while wearing a polar fleece cap, down jacket, long underwear, flannel pajamas, and fleece boots - b-r-r-r!

Posted by Jo Ann, a resident of the Embarcadero Oaks/Leland neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 12:48 am

Our utility bill was absurd, too. Is anyone investigating why? Do utility people ever read the comments here? If not, maybe one of the reporters could investigate further.

Posted by Walter_E_Wallis, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 2:56 am
Walter_E_Wallis is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online

When utility rates are allowed to be weapons for social change we can expect less carrot and more whip. When we demand accountability for performance rather than image from our managers perhaps... But this is Palo Alto.

Posted by Freezin in PA, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 3:29 am

To clarify my previous post - the methane (natural gas) sequestration would be from leaking pipes. The natural gas leaks back into the ground (not the atmosphere), and we are charged for it. It's part of the city's climate protection plan. :)

Posted by YouShouldKnow, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 9:38 am

When @ home I live in giant fuzzy ugg boots, sweat pants, layered sweat tops and a hood. It sucks. I look like I should be running on ice floes with my pet penguin. Even if money weren't so tight right now I'd be loathe to turn on the heat because I think there is a snafu in the billing process.

I'm curious JP, in what usage was the spike? Gas, electeic etc?

Posted by anon-college terrace, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 10:20 am

Our December spiked big time too -- and we weren't even here for a big part of the month - gas was shut off.

Posted by Gunn parent, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 11:17 am

Our utility bill more than doubled to over $900. I didn't know a few Christmas lights could cost that much! What's up with this??

Posted by Jo Ann, a resident of the Embarcadero Oaks/Leland neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 11:52 am

I just called to complain about my utility bill and I was told that a) they billed us for 34 days, not the usual number, because of the holiday schedule of the meter readers, B) they bought energy back in August when rates were higher than they are now, and C) because prices will drop when they next purchase energy, the rate INCREASE won't be as much next time.

When I reminded the customer service rep that it was reported that we had a surplus and questioned why there was still a rate increase, she said the person in charge of setting rates and who handles complaints is Eric Kenniston, 329-2386.

I also told her that they should check out the discussions here to see how furious everyone is, especially since we thought it was just our individual households.

Let's keep each other posted. Thanks.

Posted by Sylvia, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 12:12 pm

Yes, the utility rates have been frightening. I vividly remember, when doing house hunting in Palo Alto in the 80's, that a realtor spread out copies of utility bills for one of the houses I viewed. The realtor crowed that Palo Alto's owning its utility company meant I'd get a big break on utility costs by buying in Palo Alto. It's unconscionable that they have a huge surplus and are sticking it to us like this. I turn my heat on for about an hour in the morning to take a shower, etc., and lay around under quilts in the evening with it turned off, and my bill is still more than double what it should be.

Posted by JP, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 1:01 pm

To You Should Know: It was both Gas and Electric which makes NO sense since I turned down my water heater and again, don't use the house gas heater. I use the stove but not enough for a five hundred dollar bill!

Posted by natural gas, a resident of the Community Center neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 2:06 pm

Natural gas market prices are lower today than they were in 2007.

See this chart: Web Link.

Palo Alto utility charges residents prices commensurate with bubble peak prices and plan to raise them higher.

Hmmmm.....

Posted by brian wilson, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 3:11 pm

The story has nothing to do with your utility bills. If you have a problem with your bill you should contact your city council member or utilities customer service and they will document your complaint and keep your personal problems to yourself. The story was and is about committing fraudulent conspiracy against the United States.

Posted by Need To Know, a resident of the Embarcadero Oaks/Leland neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 3:54 pm

We can discuss both fraud and rates. It's called topic swerve.

As posted above, I called the utility department and posted the results above. There are enough similarities in our personal situations that I hope "even" Palo Alto residents can elevate them to the rate setter Eric Kenningston and other officials in a unified manner.

Some of us care more about the rates than the alleged fraud; in fact some of us are still more irritated about Enron defrauding us.

Posted by TwoSides, a resident of the South of Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 9:01 pm

I had a huge hike too. I went to a few neighbors, and they said they did as well. The bills are making no sense. Some of them did complain and no one else was told about four extra days, and that would not account for that amount of money anyway. I am sorry the Topic Police are out, but the utility department IS the utility department and this is an issue that isn't going away! I feel like perhaps there is something a bit unethical going on here.

Posted by Kate, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Feb 11, 2009 at 10:32 pm

Almost every one of the top brass in the Utility Department DO NOT LIVE IN PALO ALTO.

Reportedly, few of the workers do. THEY are not paying these utility bills.

Posted by Jo Ann, a resident of the Embarcadero Oaks/Leland neighborhood, on Feb 12, 2009 at 12:06 am

If anyone has any ideas -- petitions, getting a meeting with the utility people, whatever -- please let us know. Interesting that no one else was told about the extra days. Maybe they were just getting creative.

Posted by Oldtimer, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Feb 12, 2009 at 10:30 am

The utility department needs the extra money to pay for a huge information technology purchase. And it doesn't work!

Posted by Need To Know, a resident of the Embarcadero Oaks/Leland neighborhood, on Feb 12, 2009 at 10:37 am

Here's the address for the City Council to demand that they put a stop the the increases:

city.council@cityofpaloalto.org

Posted by Cold, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Feb 12, 2009 at 10:56 am

My total utility bill was $467.38. I live alone. Several rooms are not heated. Long underwear, wool sweaters, wool socks are my outfits. The thermostat is set at 68 during the day and 64 at night. Now I read that the utility dept has a huge excess of funds and that ANOTHER rate increase is in the offing. The City also has a huge reserve fund and what it is for is unknown. The City is also collecting RENT from the use of park land - millions of dollars a year. Maybe there ought to be an uprising. And surely an investigation of the Utility Dept. and not just by the Feds.

Posted by WOW, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Feb 12, 2009 at 4:55 pm

I also had a HUGH utility bill this month. I called and asked that they reread my meters and was told they went out and read the meters again and they were right. I didn't really believe them but after reading the comments here I do now. I still think this is horrible especially since our utility rates are going to be raised again. Maybe we should all storm the council meeting and start a big protest.