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January 2, 2011
Paying for power jolts some military families
About 6,400 Navy and Marine Corps households will be charged for excess energy use, a cost some believe is unfair
Honolulu Star Advertiser
by William Cole
If someone was going to charge America's hard-working military men and women a penalty for using too much electricity, could you guess who it would be? C. Montgomery Burns? Guess again.
Come Saturday, 6,400 military families in Hawaii will start to get electricity bills where there weren't any before, and although the change is intended to reduce consumption, not all are viewing the effort with holiday cheer.
The Navy and housing contractor Forest City Military Communities are testing the utility bills as a pilot program at Navy and Marine Corps housing in Hawaii. A similar test is under way at military housing at Beaufort/Parris Island in South Carolina.
For at least six years in Hawaii, Forest City has collected military members' housing allowances—which are substantial—as full payment for rent, utilities and all other costs under a public-private venture (PPV).
Now, military families will have to pay for electricity if their usage exceeds 20 percent of an established average for their neighborhood.
...Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Lunn, 31, formally questioned the rationale for the change, known as the Resident Energy Conservation Program, before recently deploying to Iraq with the 25th Infantry Division.
"Service members are already adequately compensating housing communities for the electrical costs incurred," Lunn said. "The only reasonable explanation is that the civilian corporations running military housing here in Hawaii are exploiting the spirit of the RECP as a vehicle to generate additional income at the expense of service members."
Lunn's wife, Jennifer, said she skimped on Christmas lights this year on their Pearl City Peninsula home because of electricity cost worries.
"My husband is deployed and we can't even put up lights," she said. "Normally, we would put out double (the lights) at least, and it's like, ugh, take (the fun) out of the holiday season."
And what about during summer, when the sun is broiling?
The Navy said Forest City will not allow residents to install their own ceiling fans, but the housing manager will consider installing more on its own.
Forest City is converting all older air-conditioning thermostats to newer models that limit the lowest possible setting to 72 degrees.
NoLandGrab: Merry Christmas to our men and women in uniform.
Posted by eric at January 2, 2011 9:58 PM