Folks complain about high electric bills at town hall meeting

High electric bills, the lack of high-definition cable TV and problems with flooding in local streets were on the minds of the handful of residents who came out for Tuesday's town hall meeting.
Only five residents attended the city of Marion's annual town hall meeting at the Community Building. Every year, the meeting allows residents an opportunity to meet their city officials and ask questions about whatever issues they have. All of the city's departments had someone there to answer questions.
In addition, representatives from the various agencies and utilities in Marion were there, too. They included the N.C. Department of Transportation, PSNC Energy, Verizon, McDowell County Emergency Management, McDowell County EMS, Duke Energy, Charter Communications and the Marion Business Association.
The big question on a lot of people's minds concerned their recent electric bills from Duke Energy. Kellie Vaden, who lives off of Ashworth Road, wanted to ask why her electric bill was so high. Her last bill was around $300.
"My power bill is outrageous," said Vaden. "I really want to understand this. Is there a reason why it has jumped so high?"
Vaden added she lives on a fixed income and doesn't even own her mobile home.
James Nations, representing Duke Energy, said McDowell, along with the rest of western North Carolina, has had some very cold weather lately. Plus, the last billing cycle was for 35 days, which is longer than usual.
Nations told Vaden that a technician could be sent out to her home and check for any mistakes in the meter reading.
"There's several things we could look at," he said.
Mayor Steve Little said he planned to ask the same question, if Vaden had not spoken up. Little said he knows someone who maintains an unoccupied dwelling. The person just keeps the heat in that residence set high enough so that the pipes won't freeze. The electric bill for that place just went up 700 percent.
"I simply cannot accept that this has been a cold January," said Little.
Councilman Lloyd Cuthbertson said his bill went up by 200 percent.
"People don't understand," he said. "I'm confused."
Some folks wondered if the recent rate hike by Duke Energy was the cause of the higher bills. Nations said Duke had a 3.2 percent increase effective Jan. 1. Another similar increase will take effect next Jan. 1.
"It has been almost 19 years since we've had a rate increase," he said.
Little said the recent rate hike by Duke is affecting a lot of people.
"In Marion, we are mighty concerned about these increases," he added.
Debi Sherlin, administrative assistant for the city, said she's heard from residents who want to know why the Charter system in Marion does not have high-definition TV. She said Charter employees have told these residents that the city's information channel is the reason for that.
Doug Underwood, Charter's director of operations for western North Carolina, said the city's channel is not the reason for the lack of HDTV on the local system. The bandwidth on the system is not big enough yet to handle HDTV. The bandwidth needed for HD service far exceeds the small amount used for the city's channel.
Little asked when the Charter system for Marion would get HDTV. Underwood said he doesn't see it happening this calendar year.
Boyette said Wednesday that Charter will instruct its employees not to blame the city's channel for the lack of HDTV in Marion.
In addition, Ricky Williams, owner of The Steakhouse, said he and other businesses along the five lane appreciate the efforts by city officials to get blue directional signs posted on the U.S. 221 North bypass. Recently, Williams asked if a blue directional sign could be posted at the intersection of the bypass and U.S. 70. This is the same kind of sign seen along the interstates that direct motorists to nearby restaurants, hotels and gas stations.
At the town hall meeting, Williams said this sign could attract more customers to his business and others like it on the five lane.
The state DOT's division office in Asheville supported this idea. But under state policy, those signs are not allowed on roads with signaled intersections. The city is now asking the state to change this policy.
"With the economy the way it is, they should reconsider," said Williams.
"Perhaps, we will get a policy change for the entire state of North Carolina because of Ricky Williams," said Little.
Cuthbertson asked Doug McNeal, division engineer for the DOT, about problems with water drainage on the five lane in front of the Bi-Lo shopping center. He said there was a lot of standing water there during Sunday's heavy rain and folks could have hydroplaned at that spot.
EMS Director William Kehler said it has been an ongoing problem.
McNeal said his office would take a look at it and see if it can be fixed.