Crazy & annoyed? THIS:
I own a vacant rural lot with electric service that almost never gets used. For years I'd been getting a monthly bill of $23.## then up to $24.##, then $25.00. I just thought they had another rate increase that happened to land me right on $25
.00. Minor increase, not a big deal. But ... this month it went to $28.00. Note the ".00" again. Looking into I find:
"
In an effort to improve the lives of members, Clay Electric implemented Operation Round Up in October 2016, a program that generates and collects charitable donations that will be used to benefit organizations in the community. The program “rounds up” a member’s bill to the nearest dollar, and that tax-deductible amount goes directly to the Clay Electric Foundation. Each month, the electric bills of participating members are rounded up – increased to the next dollar amount. So, if your bill is $119.99, it is rounded up to $120, and if your bill is $175.53, it is rounded up to $176. The average amount any given member donates is just $0.50 per month, with the maximum being $11.88 per year."
Note how they don't use an example like $119.01 being rounded up to $120.
"
While the program is voluntary, members are automatically enrolled and will need to opt out in order to not participate. Other co-ops that have introduced Operation Round Up in this way have shown that more members participate – an average of 75 percent as opposed to 25 percent where members were required to sign up."
GEE ... you mean you increased your success rate by sneaking it in??!
Great job, A-holes.
"
Members of Clay Electric were given plenty of notice and have the ability to opt out of the program."
I received no notice that I'm aware of. Maybe something came in the mail, but I didn't see it. And why would they
really want me to? I bet it was one of the many single sheets of paper they include in the monthly bill envelope. It's always ... OK
usually always ... junk mail, so I just quickly throw out everything but the bill.
This reminds me of a kid asking a parent for permission by
whispering, "Mom, if it's OK for me to stay out til midnight, don't say anything {pause for a second} ... Great, thanks!"
https://www.clayelectric.com/community-education/operation-round