Jeff Rowe: Big firms deserve lower electricity rates because they provide jobs
Re “Gallo Winery cashing in” (Front page, July 31): Gallo and the other businesses mentioned in the article “Gallo Winery cashing in” employ thousands of people in our community and are indirectly responsible for the jobs of thousands more. Every day other states try to lure our industries and these jobs away with offers of cheaper land, fewer regulations and lower taxes. Having lower electric rates might be a factor that keeps them here.
If subsidizing lower industrial rates with higher residential rates seems unfair, ask yourself which is worse – paying more out of your paycheck for electricity or trying to pay your electric bill when you are unemployed.
Jeff Rowe, Turlock
This story was originally published August 3, 2016 at 6:20 PM with the headline "Jeff Rowe: Big firms deserve lower electricity rates because they provide jobs."