Monday, December 15, 2014
There is a New Scam in Town
3:24 PM | 
Posted by
Billy Ray |
Attention EPB Customers - We have been notified that some of our
customers have received phone calls demanding immediate payment for past
due accounts via credit card. This is a scam. Please, do not give out
your information to anyone who calls requesting your credit card
information over the phone. Glasgow EPB does not, and will never do business this way. If you have any question about your account,
please call our office at 270-651.8341.
We recommend that these matters be treated like any other criminal activity. Report these matters to the Glasgow Police Department so that they can investigate these activities.
We recommend that these matters be treated like any other criminal activity. Report these matters to the Glasgow Police Department so that they can investigate these activities.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Broadcast Channel and Rate Changes Come Into Focus
As of 8:00 am on Monday, December 1 we are still in negotiation with some of the
channel providers listed below; however, to be in compliance with the
legal restrictions that we notify our customers 30 days in advance of
any cable lineup changes and/or rate changes we are issuing the
following notice:
Our staff, our Programming Committee and our Board of Directors have worked diligently over the past few weeks trying to negotiate a reasonable agreement with all of our ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CW programmers. While we were able to reach an agreement with some, there are others who we have decided that, in the best interest of our customers, will be dropped from our service with all changes taking effect January 1, 2015.
First, WNKY, the CBS and NBC affiliate from Bowling Green demanded the largest increase at the rate of 1,000%. We simply could not accept this for our customers, and have decided to drop this channel, but fear not! We are replacing it with WSMV from Nashville and will continue our carriage of WTVF also from Nashville. You will have the same great CBS and NBC programming as always, along with quality news and weather coverage - both at a lesser rate than WNKY’s demand. You may see a message on their channels soon to contact us to demand we keep them on our service. But we believe the majority of our customers will agree we have found the better solution.
We will also be dropping WMYO and WDRB, due to the sizeable increases demanded by both channels. We are pleased to add WCZU, a new channel from Bowling Green that duplicates MyNetwork TV carried by WMYO, and also promises carriage of ACC sports, including U of L.
Even with all of our diligence and attempts to keep the rates as low as possible, sizeable increases were demanded, and with it must come a rate increase for the Glasgow EPB cable customers also. Effective January 1, 2015, you will see a new format on your bill as follows:
Basic Cable Service $11.50
Glasgow Classic Service $22.50
ABC, CBS, NBC, CW, FOX $ 5.50
Total “Basic Package” $39.50
When all of these changes are combined, you will see a $5 per month net increase in the cost of our basic + classic package. We sincerely regret this change, but with the demands of the broadcasters to continue the carriage of the programming for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CW we simply have no choice.
We sincerely appreciate, and value, the input from each of our customers as we struggle to determine the best course of action for all of our customers while maintaining the lowest cable rates in the entire United States.
Our staff, our Programming Committee and our Board of Directors have worked diligently over the past few weeks trying to negotiate a reasonable agreement with all of our ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CW programmers. While we were able to reach an agreement with some, there are others who we have decided that, in the best interest of our customers, will be dropped from our service with all changes taking effect January 1, 2015.
First, WNKY, the CBS and NBC affiliate from Bowling Green demanded the largest increase at the rate of 1,000%. We simply could not accept this for our customers, and have decided to drop this channel, but fear not! We are replacing it with WSMV from Nashville and will continue our carriage of WTVF also from Nashville. You will have the same great CBS and NBC programming as always, along with quality news and weather coverage - both at a lesser rate than WNKY’s demand. You may see a message on their channels soon to contact us to demand we keep them on our service. But we believe the majority of our customers will agree we have found the better solution.
We will also be dropping WMYO and WDRB, due to the sizeable increases demanded by both channels. We are pleased to add WCZU, a new channel from Bowling Green that duplicates MyNetwork TV carried by WMYO, and also promises carriage of ACC sports, including U of L.
Even with all of our diligence and attempts to keep the rates as low as possible, sizeable increases were demanded, and with it must come a rate increase for the Glasgow EPB cable customers also. Effective January 1, 2015, you will see a new format on your bill as follows:
Basic Cable Service $11.50
Glasgow Classic Service $22.50
ABC, CBS, NBC, CW, FOX $ 5.50
Total “Basic Package” $39.50
When all of these changes are combined, you will see a $5 per month net increase in the cost of our basic + classic package. We sincerely regret this change, but with the demands of the broadcasters to continue the carriage of the programming for ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and CW we simply have no choice.
We sincerely appreciate, and value, the input from each of our customers as we struggle to determine the best course of action for all of our customers while maintaining the lowest cable rates in the entire United States.
Friday, November 21, 2014
The Broadcast Stations and Your Cable Bill
Gather
around Glasgow folks. We have some serious business to discuss
regarding your cable television service. Between now and the end of
2014, we must negotiate new agreements with the broadcast stations, like
WBKO, WNKY, WTVF, WHAS, WMYO, and WDRB .
These stations have all decided that we cannot continue carrying their
signal unless we pay them a sizable sum for permission. It is the size
of that sum that we need to discuss. They are asking for staggering
increases in the monthly licensing fees. Our Programming Committee,
consisting of 5 of your fellow citizens appointed by our Board of
Directors, is deeply involved in negotiating the lowest possible rates
and best option for our customers. Here’s our dilemma: We either pay
them or stop carrying their signals.
We have now received notices of rate increases ranging from 170% up to 1,000%. If we keep the channels as they currently stand, based upon these demands we would all see our rates increase approximately $7.60 per month just to pay for these channels. And make no mistake, this is not applicable to just Glasgow EPB customers, this applies to every cable company across the nation as they negotiate with the broadcast stations. We are proud to still offer the lowest cable rates in the United States (yes, you did read that correctly – Glasgow enjoys the lowest cable rates in the United States), and we will make every effort to continue to do so.
We predict that most of our customers would say, “Drop them!” when seeing this huge increase based on the broadcasters’ demands. That would be fine with us; however, there is a very sharp hook in that bait. Dropping WHAS and WTVF would leave us without our long-enjoyed access to the Louisville and Nashville news sources that we have relied upon for years. Dropping WBKO might leave us with no ABC, no FOX, and no CW programming at all, as they have the legal right to refuse us access to other stations that duplicate their service.
By now you are likely shaking your head in amazement that these conditions exist in our country. After all, can’t we still put up an antenna and get these stations over the air for free? For the Bowling Green stations, that is largely still true. For the Louisville and Nashville broadcasters, that likely would not work anymore. The conversion to digital broadcast technology in 2009 rendered signal acquisition by a homeowner practically impossible if you live more than 50 miles from the transmitter. That makes Nashville and Louisville stations a big problem. These stations, who use the taxpayer-owned airwaves for free, are allowed to set their prices at whatever rate they desire, simply because a cable company puts up a very tall antenna, catches their broadcasts from the air and distributes them for the convenience of the cable customers and the benefit of the advertisers that pay the broadcaster for distributing their commercials.
What rights and protections do we have to address this outrage? Well, not a lot. In 1992, Congress gave broadcasters the right to demand compensation for their signals, and cable operators were granted few legal options to resist the station owners’ unreasonable pricing and exclusive carriage demands. As the cost of carrying broadcast stations reaches atmospheric levels, the only solution now is for Congress to update its outdated rules. There really is no way to avoid that fact.
While we are posting this to give you all a chance to weigh in on these matters, we know that all of our hands are tied due to the way our current laws are written. We want to hear from you; however, the broadcasters and our elected representatives should hear loudly from you as well, because this situation is blatantly unfair with the broadcasters holding all of the cards and you holding the bill.
We have now received notices of rate increases ranging from 170% up to 1,000%. If we keep the channels as they currently stand, based upon these demands we would all see our rates increase approximately $7.60 per month just to pay for these channels. And make no mistake, this is not applicable to just Glasgow EPB customers, this applies to every cable company across the nation as they negotiate with the broadcast stations. We are proud to still offer the lowest cable rates in the United States (yes, you did read that correctly – Glasgow enjoys the lowest cable rates in the United States), and we will make every effort to continue to do so.
We predict that most of our customers would say, “Drop them!” when seeing this huge increase based on the broadcasters’ demands. That would be fine with us; however, there is a very sharp hook in that bait. Dropping WHAS and WTVF would leave us without our long-enjoyed access to the Louisville and Nashville news sources that we have relied upon for years. Dropping WBKO might leave us with no ABC, no FOX, and no CW programming at all, as they have the legal right to refuse us access to other stations that duplicate their service.
By now you are likely shaking your head in amazement that these conditions exist in our country. After all, can’t we still put up an antenna and get these stations over the air for free? For the Bowling Green stations, that is largely still true. For the Louisville and Nashville broadcasters, that likely would not work anymore. The conversion to digital broadcast technology in 2009 rendered signal acquisition by a homeowner practically impossible if you live more than 50 miles from the transmitter. That makes Nashville and Louisville stations a big problem. These stations, who use the taxpayer-owned airwaves for free, are allowed to set their prices at whatever rate they desire, simply because a cable company puts up a very tall antenna, catches their broadcasts from the air and distributes them for the convenience of the cable customers and the benefit of the advertisers that pay the broadcaster for distributing their commercials.
What rights and protections do we have to address this outrage? Well, not a lot. In 1992, Congress gave broadcasters the right to demand compensation for their signals, and cable operators were granted few legal options to resist the station owners’ unreasonable pricing and exclusive carriage demands. As the cost of carrying broadcast stations reaches atmospheric levels, the only solution now is for Congress to update its outdated rules. There really is no way to avoid that fact.
While we are posting this to give you all a chance to weigh in on these matters, we know that all of our hands are tied due to the way our current laws are written. We want to hear from you; however, the broadcasters and our elected representatives should hear loudly from you as well, because this situation is blatantly unfair with the broadcasters holding all of the cards and you holding the bill.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
An Update on Cable Programming Changes and Negotiations
It is fall in
Glasgow. The leaves and landscape are changing, and some changes are coming to
EPB’s cable television lineup as well.
Like so many
times over the last few months, our negotiations with the programming providers
are causing us to reconsider what channels we offer. The first change is about
to result in G4 (EPB Channel 147 and HD Channel 552) being dropped from our
system on November 30.
As
in most programming changes, the reason for this change comes down to money.
NBC Universal owns G4, and has announced
they will discontinue it in the near future. They also own NBC Sports Network.
NBC has just purchased rights to some NASCAR races and has increased the cost
of NBC Sports Network to cover the cost of this programming. In order to help
us pay the increased cost, they gave us a chance to drop G4, and we are going
to take it so as to keep our programming cost increases down.
This is not
the last change you will see before the end of the year. We are in discussion
with the broadcast stations in Bowling Green, Louisville, and Nashville. The
early indications are that the broadcasters are going to ask for whopping
increases in the fees we must pay to carry many of those stations. Already one
broadcaster has asked for a nearly 400% increase! Simply put, we are not going
to pay such ridiculous fees because we would simply have to pass them along to
you. Any station that makes such a demand will very likely be dropped from our
system at the end of the year.
These
discussions will be going on throughout the month of November. We will keep you
posted, and even ask for your advice, via our social networking sites so we can
make sure to represent your feelings correctly in these discussions.
Stay tuned.
The programmers are not through socking it to us through their fee demands. In
January we will have to adjust our cable rates to reflect all of our new costs
for programming agreements signed during the last half of 2014. We will tell
you how all of this is going as soon as we have deals completed.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
New Criminal Activity in Glasgow -- Wire Theft
There is a new criminal activity taking place around Glasgow and that activity can interrupt your electric service, damage your appliances, and could possibly prove deadly to those committing the crimes. The activity is the theft of copper wire off of the poles up and down your street and in your back yards. Unfortunately, some unsavory characters have begun to notice that wire and they have begun cutting and stealing the wire, and likely selling it for scrap to collect the money.
The dangers in this activity are many. Insufficient current path to ground near your home can cause the voltage supplied to your appliances to swing wildly. Of course, this can cause dramatic failure of your equipment. The activity of cutting the wire can be dangerous as well because those wires do carry current at times.
If you see folks stopping and performing some sort of work on a Glasgow wood pole, and if those folks are not wearing an EPB, SCRTC, or Windstream uniform, then you are likely witnessing illegal activity that can adversely affect your home. Please be on the look out for this kind of activity and call the Glasgow Police Department and report it immediately.
Thank you for your help with this expensive and dangerous new threat to our community.
The dangers in this activity are many. Insufficient current path to ground near your home can cause the voltage supplied to your appliances to swing wildly. Of course, this can cause dramatic failure of your equipment. The activity of cutting the wire can be dangerous as well because those wires do carry current at times.
If you see folks stopping and performing some sort of work on a Glasgow wood pole, and if those folks are not wearing an EPB, SCRTC, or Windstream uniform, then you are likely witnessing illegal activity that can adversely affect your home. Please be on the look out for this kind of activity and call the Glasgow Police Department and report it immediately.
Thank you for your help with this expensive and dangerous new threat to our community.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Peaks and Valleys - A New Electric Rate Structure Must Help Tame Them
On Wednesday,
August 6, 2014, at 3:00 in the afternoon, the City of Glasgow likely set its
maximum peak electrical demand for the month. We recognized this a day ahead of
time, based upon our understanding of Glasgow’s electric power customers and
the weather forecast for the day.
Though we
used nearly every method at our command to notify everyone and ask for help
lowering this demand, as you can see from the graphic below, we still set a
peak demand that was sharply higher than the previous peak for the month. That
means that EPB will pay TVA a lot more money than we would if the demand had
remained lower.
This is not the result we need if we are to lower our costs and keep rates the same. But even though the overall result was not what we needed, many folks did comply with our request and lowered their electric power demand during the afternoon hours, mainly by altering their air conditioning settings and avoiding the use of other large appliances during the afternoon. Their average load shape for Wednesday afternoon looks like this:
This reveals
a problem in the way our present electric rates work. Customers like these
heeded our call to raise their thermostat setting and avoid other afternoon
electric usage. Note how their demand dropped sharply during the time just
before and after the time of Glasgow’s 3:00 peak demand. Glasgow EPB’s payment
to TVA for the energy required to serve a customer that responds like this is
far less. In fact, the approximate wholesale demand charge we incurred to serve
this customer on August 6, 2014, was only about $18.
But thousands
of our residential customers had a load shape that averaged out looking more like
this.
As you can
see, this load shape is actually the reverse of what we needed to lower costs.
The average residential customer’s demand for the day actually was higher
during the afternoon period, and that is the reason why we set a new peak
demand. The wholesale cost of the demand from TVA to serve this average
customer for that day was about $35.
However, over
the whole month of August, both the customers who responded and those who did
not, because of the antiquated nature of our retail rates, will pay about the
same amount for their electric power for the month. This situation represents
an inequity that we must resolve with a new rate structure. It is clear that
asking for help is not going to be the ultimate solution to this problem.
Eventually we will be putting a new retail rate in place that collects the
proper revenue associated with serving each customer, depending on the actual
costs created by the way each customer uses energy.
When such a
rate structure is in place, there will clearly be winners and losers. For those
that can respond to peak demand predictions and lower their consumption during
the peak period, like the ones represented by the purple line below, a lower electric bill will be realized. We expect to be able to help people do that through the research we have been doing on water heaters, appliances, and thermostats for the last few years. For those that cause
higher costs due to their high demand during Glasgow's peaks, like the ones represented by the blue line below, higher bills will result.
We will
continue this conversation as we learn more and more about how usage patterns
impact everyone’s costs. This is only a prelude to the way electric rates will
need to evolve over the coming months.However, you can start participating in this new way to think about how you use electric power right now. You can sign up for our EPB Meter Portal and get real-time information on how your home, or business, is using energy. Just call us and we will help you get signed up for it. You can also apply for our ongoing research project with TVA, wherein we are furnishing, free of charge, a very effective ecobee WiFi enabled thermostat, to study how these devices can be used to help you become a member of the purple line instead of the blue one. Again, if you want to be a part of this early trial of these new concepts, just give us a call at 270-651-8341.
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Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Round-Up time!
About
a year ago, your Glasgow EPB began a “round-up” program. You’re
familiar with the concept: You decide to participate in the program and
the amount of your monthly bill is “rounded up” to the next nearest
dollar (the most that could be contributed in a year’s time is
$11.88). That additional amount is put into a separate fund where it’s
used for a specific purpose.
In
the EPB’s case, the money is given to CERF, the Community Emergency
Relief Fund. “Community Relief,” as they’re usually known, helps a great
number of people in Glasgow and Barren County. They assist with utility
bills and other important bills, deposits – they even get people in
touch with other agencies for help with things that they don’t handle
themselves.
Community
Relief has helped many EPB customers, especially when the bills tend to
go up in the summer and the winter, when usage is usually higher
because of weather extremes. We appreciate the assistance that Community
Relief gives to our customers.
We
could give Community Relief more money, and give it more often, if more
of our customers took part in our Round-Up Program. Out of all of the
EPB’s customers, fewer than 100 are currently part of the Round-Up
Program. You’ll never miss the small amount you give, but when it’s
added to what others contribute, it adds up to a lot of help for local
people in need. Please consider becoming a part of the program. You can
join with only a phone call to (270) 651-8341. Help spread the word in
your family, in your club or at your church: Everyone’s pennies can add
up to a lot!
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Farewell Janice Crenshaw
Janice Crenshaw was not a long term member of the EPB team. She did not join us because of her education and experience at operating complex networks or business systems. One might think that her unexpected passing on Monday, June 9 wouldn't have a big impact on us, but that would be far from true. Both Janice’s life, and her passing, will have a profound impact on our team, and on our community.
Janice Crenshaw joined our team initially as a member of our Cable Television Programming Committee. She earned a reputation there as a thoughtful and active representative of our customers as we wrestled with tough decisions relative to programming choices and the cost of those choices. A little over two years ago when we needed a temporary employee to fill in for another team member on maternity leave, we were able to convince Janice to take that job. That decision was not a simple one for Janice because she was also very involved in helping others through her work for American Red Cross. Janice had agreed to be one of the folks that Red Cross sends in to help folks in neighborhoods afflicted by some sort of disaster. She was a natural for that kind of work.
Somehow we pulled her away from that assignment and Janice joined the EPB team. After that, she immediately began to change us all with her limitless concern for others. We learned from her about solving conflict with love instead of brute force. She taught us how to sow calm and harvest understanding. She also taught us about the pure joy of sharing, and we are all a bit heavier because of her favorite thing to share – wonderful home cooking delivered when you least expected it, and for no reason other than the joy of friendship.
The lessons of love that Janice taught us at Glasgow EPB were also shared with scores of friends and family throughout our community. Together, we all grieve her unexpected, and far too early passing. For our part, we hope to honor her by adhering to her example and passing her caring ways along to our community. Godspeed to you Janice Crenshaw. Thanks for the many lessons you taught us
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Of EPA, Coal, Greenhouse Gases, and Glasgow
Monday’s announcement that EPA will soon implement new restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants seems to have already caused everyone to chose a side and decide who they should hate relative to this new initiative. Just in case there are any local folks who have not yet chosen a side, I offer some non-political thoughts on what EPA is trying to do, and how it might impact us all, nationally and locally.
Since Monday it seems that nearly all of Kentucky’s congressional delegation (and those who are presently trying to enter that delegation) is 100% committed to opposing the new regulations. Since these sides and positions were chosen so quickly, one must infer that this is done to gain the favor of an industry that often gives big dollars to political campaigns – the coal industry. Make no mistake, the positions already taken by our legislators can have nothing to do with making the lot of us Kentuckians better, because they have not had the time necessary to totally understand the impact of the new regulations. That has to make us all feel that they take this position as the spokespersons for the coal industry, not as representatives of our welfare. I am about to suggest that there is a middle ground.
Beyond the elected folk, there is already great opposition to the new regulations because we have been told that electric power rates will soar. Even if that were true, should we not also take into account the nagging little issue that burning coal causes a warehouse full of health and climate issues, most of which, if properly monetized in the same recognizable form as our monthly power bill, would dwarf the economic impact of higher electric bills? Don’t take my word for it. I am not a climate expert. I’m not even a chemist, but I know there are such folks in the world, experts who have earned the right to warn us about climate change, and one must be consciously drowning them out not to hear, and recognize, that we probably are slowly destroying everything we love with each kWh produced by burning fossil fuel.
Just how much might our monthly electric bills change under this new regulatory environment? Well, that is a subject I am qualified to speak on. Like most things, the answer depends on how you ask the question. For example, if the electric power industry continues to do tomorrow, pretty much what it did yesterday (that is the favorite method of operating for my utility fraternity), the impact on your electric bills, locally and nationally, would be staggering. But in the real world, we ought to expect that new economics would bring about new solutions, new ideas, and an evolution of thinking about how electric power should be supplied to our communities. Auto makers responded to evolving fuel costs and pollution regulations by producing cleaner and more efficient cars and trucks. Surely the electric power industry can do as well as they have done. In 2014 and beyond, we should be able to design electric power solutions that are yearning to become viable, needing only a little change to the status quo to flourish.
If you happen to be a customer of Glasgow EPB, you already know how we have been changing our relationship with you over the last couple of years. We are attempting to predict when our peak demand might occur and we are telling you about that, and researching technologies that will allow us to work together to help mitigate those peaks, with very little impact on the way we live our lives. Coming soon will be a totally new retail rate structure that will amplify those peak predictions and assign costs to customers based upon the time of day when they use energy. These are solutions that are designed to work with more stringent regulations on TVA and other utilities, and help them accomplish the goals of these new regulations. These experiments we have been doing are proving that we can reduce our dependence on coal fired, and other less efficient forms of generation, by learning how to moderate the way we deliver, and charge you for electric power, effectively reshaping the demand which generation resources must deliver. So, there are ways to move ahead and utilize cleaner electric power generation resources. There are solutions that will allow us to enjoy life and electric power, while we also turn back the clock on the impact we are having on our air, water, and climate.
Before you chose a side and start lambasting the other side for its lack of sophistication, remember there are possibilities that are available today. We are not bound by the way we operated utilities for the last century. We have a chance to use this chaotic time to our advantage. We are ready, at least as ready as any community in our country, to move toward a lasting peace, instead of joining in a war that seems already to be declared.
Since Monday it seems that nearly all of Kentucky’s congressional delegation (and those who are presently trying to enter that delegation) is 100% committed to opposing the new regulations. Since these sides and positions were chosen so quickly, one must infer that this is done to gain the favor of an industry that often gives big dollars to political campaigns – the coal industry. Make no mistake, the positions already taken by our legislators can have nothing to do with making the lot of us Kentuckians better, because they have not had the time necessary to totally understand the impact of the new regulations. That has to make us all feel that they take this position as the spokespersons for the coal industry, not as representatives of our welfare. I am about to suggest that there is a middle ground.
Beyond the elected folk, there is already great opposition to the new regulations because we have been told that electric power rates will soar. Even if that were true, should we not also take into account the nagging little issue that burning coal causes a warehouse full of health and climate issues, most of which, if properly monetized in the same recognizable form as our monthly power bill, would dwarf the economic impact of higher electric bills? Don’t take my word for it. I am not a climate expert. I’m not even a chemist, but I know there are such folks in the world, experts who have earned the right to warn us about climate change, and one must be consciously drowning them out not to hear, and recognize, that we probably are slowly destroying everything we love with each kWh produced by burning fossil fuel.
Just how much might our monthly electric bills change under this new regulatory environment? Well, that is a subject I am qualified to speak on. Like most things, the answer depends on how you ask the question. For example, if the electric power industry continues to do tomorrow, pretty much what it did yesterday (that is the favorite method of operating for my utility fraternity), the impact on your electric bills, locally and nationally, would be staggering. But in the real world, we ought to expect that new economics would bring about new solutions, new ideas, and an evolution of thinking about how electric power should be supplied to our communities. Auto makers responded to evolving fuel costs and pollution regulations by producing cleaner and more efficient cars and trucks. Surely the electric power industry can do as well as they have done. In 2014 and beyond, we should be able to design electric power solutions that are yearning to become viable, needing only a little change to the status quo to flourish.
If you happen to be a customer of Glasgow EPB, you already know how we have been changing our relationship with you over the last couple of years. We are attempting to predict when our peak demand might occur and we are telling you about that, and researching technologies that will allow us to work together to help mitigate those peaks, with very little impact on the way we live our lives. Coming soon will be a totally new retail rate structure that will amplify those peak predictions and assign costs to customers based upon the time of day when they use energy. These are solutions that are designed to work with more stringent regulations on TVA and other utilities, and help them accomplish the goals of these new regulations. These experiments we have been doing are proving that we can reduce our dependence on coal fired, and other less efficient forms of generation, by learning how to moderate the way we deliver, and charge you for electric power, effectively reshaping the demand which generation resources must deliver. So, there are ways to move ahead and utilize cleaner electric power generation resources. There are solutions that will allow us to enjoy life and electric power, while we also turn back the clock on the impact we are having on our air, water, and climate.
Before you chose a side and start lambasting the other side for its lack of sophistication, remember there are possibilities that are available today. We are not bound by the way we operated utilities for the last century. We have a chance to use this chaotic time to our advantage. We are ready, at least as ready as any community in our country, to move toward a lasting peace, instead of joining in a war that seems already to be declared.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Dark Channels in Glasgow, Why We are Fighting
Monday, March 31, 2014
Dark Channels in Glasgow, Why We are Fighting
Now that the biggest basketball game of this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament is over, we have an important update about the big battle going on between Viacom and all small cable systems in the United States. The odds are that all of the channels on our cable system which carry Viacom owned programming, may go dark.
In fact, by the time you read this, they might already be gone. Click on this link www.glasgow-ky.com/viacom for a full listing of the channels involved in this confrontation.
The reason why these channels are likely to go dark is very simple. Contrary to their onscreen messages, negotiations are continuing daily. However, we have been unable to negotiate a reasonable deal for a new contract with Viacom, so they are now attempting to drag you into this conversation by interrupting their programming. Viacom is asking for rate increases for these channels that are so staggering they are laughable. On your behalf, we are refusing to pay what they are asking, because we would then have to pass those increases along to you. We are certain that you would find the increases they are asking for totally unacceptable.
This conflict does give us a chance to review a simple fact about the cable television business. Nearly every single channel of programming you purchase from us, must be, in turn, paid for by us. The worst part of this reality is that the technology is in place to allow each customer to only purchase the channels that they are interested in and willing to pay for. We call this "a la carte" programming, and we think our Congress should mandate that programmers must sell their product this way. But, that is not the situation we are in today. Rather, all programmers force us to deliver their basic programming to everyone if we are going to have access to it for anyone. That means we have to pay for the programming for each of our customers, even though many might not be interested in the programming at all. It is a very greed driven system and it drives up the costs for everyone.
Twenty six of Glasgow EPB's cable channels carry Viacom programming. So, if they go dark, you are very likely to notice, but for many of the channels, there are ways to access the programming online. Please refer to the link www.glasgow-ky.com/viacom/ for information about how this can be done. If the Viacom channels go dark and stay dark such that our cost of programming goes down, we will pass those savings along to you. If we negotiate an acceptable deal with Viacom at the last minute, then this message will have been unnecessary and you won't experience any missing channels.
As they say in the television business, stay tuned for updates!
Dark Channels in Glasgow, Why We are Fighting
Now that the biggest basketball game of this year's NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament is over, we have an important update about the big battle going on between Viacom and all small cable systems in the United States. The odds are that all of the channels on our cable system which carry Viacom owned programming, may go dark.
In fact, by the time you read this, they might already be gone. Click on this link www.glasgow-ky.com/viacom for a full listing of the channels involved in this confrontation.
The reason why these channels are likely to go dark is very simple. Contrary to their onscreen messages, negotiations are continuing daily. However, we have been unable to negotiate a reasonable deal for a new contract with Viacom, so they are now attempting to drag you into this conversation by interrupting their programming. Viacom is asking for rate increases for these channels that are so staggering they are laughable. On your behalf, we are refusing to pay what they are asking, because we would then have to pass those increases along to you. We are certain that you would find the increases they are asking for totally unacceptable.
This conflict does give us a chance to review a simple fact about the cable television business. Nearly every single channel of programming you purchase from us, must be, in turn, paid for by us. The worst part of this reality is that the technology is in place to allow each customer to only purchase the channels that they are interested in and willing to pay for. We call this "a la carte" programming, and we think our Congress should mandate that programmers must sell their product this way. But, that is not the situation we are in today. Rather, all programmers force us to deliver their basic programming to everyone if we are going to have access to it for anyone. That means we have to pay for the programming for each of our customers, even though many might not be interested in the programming at all. It is a very greed driven system and it drives up the costs for everyone.
Twenty six of Glasgow EPB's cable channels carry Viacom programming. So, if they go dark, you are very likely to notice, but for many of the channels, there are ways to access the programming online. Please refer to the link www.glasgow-ky.com/viacom/ for information about how this can be done. If the Viacom channels go dark and stay dark such that our cost of programming goes down, we will pass those savings along to you. If we negotiate an acceptable deal with Viacom at the last minute, then this message will have been unnecessary and you won't experience any missing channels.
As they say in the television business, stay tuned for updates!
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
2014 Will Include Many Cable Programming Issues and Decisions
There is a new link on our website that we hope you have
noticed and clicked, www.tvonmyside.com The Glasgow EPB, along with every other
cable company in the country, will be dealing with many issues this year
related to cable programming and the outlandish rates many of the programmers
will be requesting. Just in case you may
have forgotten, or were unaware, over 90% of the channels on the EPB cable
service require that we pay a monthly fee for the right to carry their
programming. Some programming already carries a rate of more than $5.00 per
subscriber/per month, for one channel! Preliminary estimates have suggested that programmers
will request increases this year of 100%, or more, for some channels. We
purchase the majority of our programming through a cooperative called NCTC. The new link is provided by NCTC to help
educate and inform all cable customers of the ongoing negotiations with these
various programmers.
Added to this already confusing mix is the fact that we must
negotiate with the broadcast channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.), to carry them on
our cable service. These are the same
channels that just a few short years ago we received via antenna directly into
our homes and who negotiated a wonderful deal so that they use our public
airwaves for free. Every three
years each cable service across the country must renegotiate with these programmers,
and unfortunately 2014 finds all of us in that process again. We currently pay well over $10,000 per month
just for these channels. One more thing to remember, all of the money for
programming is removed from the Glasgow economy and sent to a corporation whose
CEO typically receives multi-million dollar pay packages.
We’re going to be talking to you a lot in the coming months,
and we want your input as we try to make these difficult and costly
decisions. You can always reach us at epb@glasgow-ky.com or on our FB page at
Glasgow Electric Plant Board. Or you may contact any of the following local
citizens serving on our Programming Committee and who make final
recommendations to our Board of Directors relative to all programming matters:
Petie McLean, Joe Trigg, Mary Burchett-Bower, Beverly Vance, Karl Napier and
Jodi Crane.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
It was Twenty Years Ago
In light of the date and the present news about the storm affecting so many of our neighbors, we thought you might like to relive (in memory only) our big ice storm.
The ice storm of 1994 struck on the evening of Thursday,
February 10. The entire area awoke to heavy ice, the sounds of falling
branches and uprooting trees, and the inevitable result of electrical outages
as the trees and ice destroyed a large part of the Glasgow EPB electric
system. At that time the EPB had a total of 33 employees, all who reported
to work as quickly as they could navigate the obstacle course of downed lines
and trees, only to find that the majority of the city was without power. It
seemed that everyone was calling our office in hopes that we could perform
quick fixes. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible as the damage was severe.
For the next five days our employees worked around the clock, rotating
shifts for a few quick hours of sleep in a few rooms obtained at a local hotel,
on the sofa in our lobby, or in a vacant office. We resorted to calling
Bowling Green, Frankfort and Louisville, who gratefully answered our pleas and
sent in additional crews and equipment. By noon on Saturday approximately
one-half of our customers had their power restored, with approximately 90% back
in service by midday on Monday.
While those of us who were employees at the time never want
to relive those days, we did witness some amazing things about our
community. Did we receive angry, even threatening, phone calls. Were
our crews in the field accosted and even harassed if they stopped for a brief
moment to eat a quick meal? Unfortunately, that happened too. People
were without a fundamental need, and we were the logical ones to lash out at in
the situation. But they were the minority. There were far more
individuals who found a way to pull together to work through the situation, and
even help us in the process. Neighbors reached out to each other and had
neighborhood “dinners” prepared on grills as their refrigerators and freezers
failed. Restaurant and grocery store owners came to our offices carrying
food that they could no longer use in order to feed our crews and staff.
Both funeral homes opened their doors to act as shelters and provide comfort
for those in need. And people even showed up at our door from nearby
cities with chainsaws and gasoline in hand, saying they had heard about our
problems and offered to clear ways for our crews to get to some areas.
During the past 20 years we have made a lot of improvements
to our service. We now have two TVA delivery point substations with
alternate feeds that can provide power to our city, and although it upsets
some people, immediately after the storm we instituted a tree trimming
policy that helps prevent a repeat of that event. Our EPB team members
are your neighbors, friends and families, and we are proud to have served you
for the past 51 years. While we certainly hope that we never experience
another event of that magnitude, please know that we are always here to serve
our community – no matter the weather or circumstances.
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