Large, out-of-state, for-profit cable companies are
pushing legislation in this year�s General Assembly that would likely
increase your family�s electric bill. These cable companies are attempting
to boost their profit margins at your expense. Please help us stop them!
Even as you read this, lobbyists for Comcast, Cox
Communications and other large cable interests are trying to convince your
delegate and your senator in the Virginia General Assembly to approve House
Bill (HB) 1439. This bill would significantly reduce the amount that the
cable companies have to
pay electric cooperatives
in order to attach cable lines to cooperative poles.
Electric cooperatives incur substantial costs to build
and maintain the lines that deliver electricity to your home or business; we
believe that the cable companies should pay their fair share of these costs
if they want to attach their equipment to our electric poles.
Or, rather, to your electric poles.
Remember, these utility poles are owned by you, because
you and all the other cooperative member-consumers wholly own your electric
utility. And because cooperatives are member-owned and not-for-profit, all
of the funds needed to purchase and deliver the electricity you use every
hour of every day must come from you and the other co-op members.
So it�s both audacious of the cable companies, and
unfair to you, for them to ask the General Assembly to require you and your
not-for-profit cooperative to subsidize their large, for-profit business!
Yet if the cable companies get their way and the
General Assembly approves HB 1439, then that�s exactly what will happen. And
your family and the other 500,000-plus electric cooperative families across
Virginia will likely end up paying higher electric bills as a result.
If you believe as we do that it�s bad public policy to
require a state-regulated, locally owned, not-for-profit electric
cooperative to subsidize an unregulated, out-of-state, for-profit cable
company, then PLEASE SPEAK UP TO YOUR LEGISLATORS TODAY!
To stop this bill from passing, you and thousands of
other cooperative members across the Commonwealth need to TELL YOUR
DELEGATES AND SENATORS TO VOTE NO on HB 1439. Time is of the essence, so
please contact your representatives as soon as possible.
It�s brazen enough that the cable companies are trying
to enrich themselves at your expense. But it�s especially insulting that
they�re trying to do so during a deep economic downturn, when average
families are finding it more difficult than ever to pay for essential
services that they absolutely need. These families should not under any
circumstances have to subsidize the cable companies.
The current economic downturn is the worst since the
1930s, which is of course the decade during which electric cooperatives were
originally formed, as a way for rural citizens to provide themselves with
power when no other utility could, or would. Over the last 75 years, you and
your neighbors have paid for a well-built, reliable electric system, and
big, for-profit cable companies should not be allowed to shortchange you
when attaching their cable equipment to your electric infrastructure.
To stop this bill from passing, please CONTACT YOUR
DELEGATE AND YOUR STATE SENATOR NOW! Use the enclosed Virginia State
Legislative Guide to find their contact information, and then write, phone
or e-mail both your delegate and your senator, and tell them to vote NO on
HB 1439.
Tell them that electric bills for you and other
cooperative members should not go up in order to increase profits for large,
out-of-state, for-profit cable companies. Tell them not-for-profit electric
cooperatives should not be asked to subsidize for-profit cable companies.
Mostly, please tell them as soon as possible!
The voice of the people is truly the best defense
against injustices, proposed or practiced. We hope you�ll join the large and
growing chorus of cooperative members speaking out against this transparent
attempt by the large cable companies to enrich themselves at the expense of
you and your neighbors.
