I was sitting at the Caledonia City Council meeting on May 22 when I was reminded of how great our economy was.
Tom Nigon, an engineer with PowerPlus Engineering, had just presented the council with his recommendations for electric rate increases.
Here are the estimated increases for a typical month. Residential-40 percent; commercial-31 percent; high school-34 percent; peak alert (SnoPac Foods)-28 percent; dual fuel-37 percent.
Why the big increase? It has to do with our booming economy, Nigon replied. There is a high demand for energy, and a limited output. Add stricter emission laws and the fact that power plants are having to be retrofitted or replaced entirely and you have a case of demand exceeding supply. That equals higher prices.
Wow, Iím sure glad our economy is doing so well. Grandma gets a 40 percent increase in her fuel bill as a result. Iíd hate to see what would happen if our economy was sluggish.
Weíll feel the price increase indirectly too. Businesses will pass the costs along to customers. The school district will have to recoup the increase by making budget cuts or increasing a levy.
Iím not picking on Tri-County Electric. I truly think they are doing the best they can. But look at Exxon-Mobil. It had a 2006 first-quarter profit of $8.4 billion. That was nearly a billion dollars more than the same quarter in 2005. Yet some shareholders were upset with that because their $1.37 income per share was a dime below analystsí forecasts. Now thatís greed, boys.
The trickle down theory of economics seems to be gushing upward.
Last year gas was 65 cents a gallon lower than it is today. I say bring on another Great Depression so we can get those prices down.
Then thereís health insurance. Premiums nationwide rose 9.2% in 2005, more than twice the inflation rate. Chances are youíve seen one yourself: an increase in your deductible and a decrease in coverage.
But donít complain too much. You are lucky if you health insurance. There are about 35 million Americans that do not have any in this great economy of ours.
Yes, weíve had four straight years of economic growth. Two million new jobs were created in 2005, unemployment went down from 5.1% to 4.9%. And maybe you got a raise too.
But most people I know are going backward and not forward. Those fuel, energy, and insurance increases have likely wiped out the gains you have made.
Throw in the national debt, and the fact that Social Security will be bankrupt in 2040, and the fact that we are flushing away a billion dollars a week in Iraq, and these boom times of ours are downright depressing.
OK Iíll stop. Iíll keep an ear out for the good news from the talking heads about our ìflourishing economy.î Iíll try not to dwell on the latest factory closing or downsizing.
It could be worse, but it could be a whole lot better.

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Caledonia Argus
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