Kera ns powers citizen's utility board campaidn
By Jim Moore
Of th« Emerald
Speaker of the House Grat
tan Kerans, D-Eugene, told a
group of OSPIRG canvassers
in the EMU Forum room Tues
day that an initiative allowing
Oregon’s voters to decide
whether to form a Citizen’s
Utility Board will be drafted in
August. And he asked the
small but enthusiastic group
for their support in obtaining
enough signatures to see it
put on the ballot.
“Make sure virtually every
household in this state is
aware of, and supports, CUB,”
Kerans told the consumer ad
vocacy group members.
Kerans, who studied
political science at the Univer
sity from 1969-72, was the
main sponsor of House Bill
2934, which called for forma
tion of a citizen’s board to
represent utility ratepayers.
That bill was defeated by
the combined efforts of the
state’s utility companies,
which according to Kerans, is
“the most powerful lobby in
the state of Oregon.”
“There's a way to beat the
utilities,” Kerans told the
students. In the next nine and
one-half months, he asked
them to collect the signatures
needed to place the CUB in
itiative on the ballot.
About 60,000 signatures are
required to accomplish that
goal, according to OSPIRG
representative Daniel
Malarkey. The research group
intends to collect more than
90,000, he said.
A CUB is necessary in
Oregon, said Kerans, to act as
a defense of ratepayer’s rights
at rate proceedings. He cited
the many recent rate increases
as evidence that represen
tatives of the utilities have
dominated previous hearings.
Public Utility Commissioner
John Lobdell, who has ques
tioned the need for a board,
has not been a strong ad
vocate of ratepayers, accor
ding to Kerans. The role of the
commissioner is to act as a
judge, said Kerans, and in re
cent proceedings ratepayers
have had no representation.
A CUB would be supported
by voluntary contributions
from citizens who choose to
join the group. A board in
Wisconsin, after which
Oregon’s CUB is being pat
terned, has solicited funds
through the mail by including
requests with utility bills.
That procedure has been
questioned by some Oregon
consumers because they feel
it's unfair to make utility com
panies pay to support
something not in their best
interests.
But Kerans challenged that
idea by pointing out that
utilities include the cost of
postage in rates, that they use
profits to pay for efforts to in
crease rates and that the same
plan in effect in Wisconsin
hasn’t created problems.
If the initiative makes the
ballot, it will be passed
because it is the only fair way
to represent the ratepayers,
Kerans said.
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City organizes a ‘Eugene Celebration’
After 3 months of initial
planning, city officials and
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City Council member Cyn
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