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Doug Bechtel
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I never cease to be amazed by the response OPALCO gets from our members. Several weeks ago we mailed out nearly 7,500 post cards asking if you would like to participate in a round up program. For those that missed it, the round up program would round up your electric bill to the next higher dollar. On an average it would increase your electric bill by 50¢ a month. The money would be used to help those who need help paying their electric bill.
Almost exactly 1/3 of you returned your postcards. This is a phenomenal response for this kind of an inquiry. 60% of you said you would participate if OPALCO offered a round up program and 40% said no. Many of you took time to write a note on the bottom of the card before you returned it. The overwhelming reason that people voted no was that you wanted more information on the program before you agreed to participate. A sig-nifi-cant number of you who voted no said you would participate if it was tar-geted toward the senior citizens and those who really need help and not people who "play the system".
There was another sizable group that is opposed to welfare in any shape or form and even more opposed to OPALCO becoming involved in this area. Several people suggested that we have the program but we should fund it from various areas such as taking it out of the $20 per month facility charge or late charges. The problem with this, of course, is that everybody participates whether they want to or not, and the board of directors has made it very clear that this is going to be a voluntary program.
A few members were concerned that administrative costs would use up most of the benefits. OPALCO is not going to charge a single cent to administer the program. 100% of the money collected through the round up program will be used to help people pay their electric bills.
You, the members of OPALCO, have definitely shown enough interest to proceed with the program.
Our first step is to establish a committee of OPALCO members to set the ground rules for the program. We are in the process of asking a number of people to serve on this committee, including some who voted no. This initial committee is going to be quite large, maybe as many as 15 or 20 people representing as broad a cross section of our membership as we can obtain.
Two OPALCO employees have volunteered to coordinate this program. If you would like to serve on this initial committee, call Beth Funke or Michele St. Clair at OPALCO.
After this committee establishes the rules of the program, we will let you know how it is structured and actually start signing people up for the program. We will keep you in-formed as things move along.
I am really impressed with the response we got from our members and the time that many of you spent telling us how the program should work. I have read every single comment and we have summarized them for the committee so that they will have an idea of your concerns as they develop the program.
Again, give us a call if you would like to help us establish this program.
Doug Bechtel
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