Steve Mohasci: MID board sees electricity customers in a bad light
Re “Shutting down newest member was bad business for MID” (Page 1B, Dec. 10): Average annual inflation since 2010 has been 1.4 percent. Average annual increase in wages and salaries during that same period in Stanislaus County has been 1.6 percent. Even with four years of drought, the average annual increase in farm proprietor profit has been 12.3 percent. The earnings information can be verified in the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports CA30, Economic Profiles and CA45, Farm Income and Expenses.
Three MID board members are only interested in the economic benefits of two groups, farm irrigation customers and MID employees. The only purpose for electric customers is to provide these benefits. The MID employee raises exceed the average annual increase for Stanislaus County wage and salary employees.
Electric customers must continue to contribute to the MID farm irrigation customers’ welfare fund. As a PG&E customer, my November electric bill was $24.22. If I had been an MID customer, my electric bill would have been $37.55 (55 percent higher). About one third of the electric bill for a small residential customer is helping pay farm irrigation costs.
Steve Mohasci, Manteca
This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 1:28 PM with the headline "Steve Mohasci: MID board sees electricity customers in a bad light."