It was just a few years ago that Naperville officials were promising residents that not-so Smart Meters would save money on their electric bills. That was part of the propaganda that officials used to push the idea. The Naperville city council along with city manager Doug Krieger pushed the idea so hard and fast, that they had to resort to handcuffing and arresting residents who dared to protect their homes and families from the forced installation of the unwanted meters.
The City of Naperville pushed so hard, that one resident was pushed into the court system. The resident, after spending emotion, money and time was found not guilty in a jury trial; the City of Naperville lost, which means Naperville tax payers lost. City officials never lose money or time personally, so they have no problem dragging residents through the court gauntlet also known as municipal bullying.
That was the previous Naperville city council, not the current one. It was also the previous Mayor, and the previous Chief City Attorney, both of whom are gone. In fact, the only current city council members remaining from the initial vote to approve the not-so Smart Meters are Judith Brodhead and Paul Hinterlong. The other seven city council members who approved the initial vote for the meters are long gone.
There is a third current Naperville city councilman who was instrumental in getting the meters approved, and that is councilman John Krummen who was one of the Naperville Smart Grid ambassadors. Those were the folks whom city officials ‘planted’ in the audience during council meetings to help push the not-so-smart meter fiasco. Who can erase the sight of Krummen slouched over the podium, addressing the city council, while taking side glances over his shoulder at the audience. If only someone would have suggested to Krummen to raise the microphone, it would be easier to erase the memories of his slouched-over presentations.
By the end of the summer, the score will be two electric rate increases and zero savings to residents.
And whatever happened to all those electric charging stations throughout Naperville that were supposed to serve all those anticipated alternative fuel vehicles? Remember those electric vehicles that council members would tool around town, for a minute or two before they would return to their gas powered sedans and SUV’s in the inky shadows of the municipal parking lot.
The only way I can get the image of Krummen slouched-over the podium off my mind, is to picture the previous council members all piling into an electric vehicle. It reminds me of when I was a little kid going to the circus and watching clowns getting into a clown car. It was really funny then. It’s sort of funny now, except that it’s the residents who are left paying for the council’s unwise decisions.
With all the political correctness that now seems to consume our society at the very least what the current council (mayor) should do is publically apologize to the approximately 700 citizens who had their properties invaded by the totally inappropriate and many believe illegal activity of our police department to install these overly priced, fire hazard, plastic pieces of junk. These units have done absolutely nothing to improve outage performance, reduce overhead, equipment or personnel cost but rather have increased all of them.
What they should but will never admit is the real and only purpose for these things is to institute time of use rates which they have already done to the 20 biggest electrical users in the city ( schools and the city included). Increasing rates for a commodity based on what time of day you use it is equivalent to extortion especially when it is from a government chartered monopoly who is empowered by politicians that believe they know what is best for the peons and they need to save the world from the global warming scam by making electricity so costly as to be unaffordable by the masses.
Since my property was one broken into and defiled I not only expect an apology but demand one!
Good article, second this motion…they performed slovenly work at my place, too
Hmm, seems like you’re forgetting that the new mayor was also on the council, when residents tried to bring a non-binding referendum before them. He was one of the most egregious when insulting residents. He gave speeches from his seat upon the dais telling us how ridiculous we were and how much money would be saved.. If you don’t remember I can send you copies. I get that you endorsed him and you don’t want to be too critical, but don’t rewrite history to protect him. Krummen was always a puppet of the City Council, and now he finally got the council seat they promised him. The new mayor donated to his campaign and gave his blessing/endorsement. He even trotted him around to a few events to show all his followers how rewarding it can be if you do what you’re told.
Hello Dee truthteller,
Thank you for your response. The posting stated the following: “In fact, the only current city council members remaining from the initial vote to approve the not-so Smart Meters are Judith Brodhead and Paul Hinterlong. The other seven city council members who approved the initial vote for the meters are long gone.” Steve Chirico at the time of the initial vote to approve was not part of the city council; he was elected to the council after the decision was made. Thank you again for taking the time to respond to the posting.
hey – I hear the meter readers are still reading the electric meters manually. IDK if its true or not. would be a great question to get answered.
Hi all. Let me give you some background. I was on the PUAB while the meters were being installed but was not part of the group that approved the meters. This was done before I joined the PUAB. My two terms on the PUAB ended just before I ran for City Council in the April 2015 election.
As far as the current rate increases are concerned, they were necessary because the Electric Utility/City Manager decided not to implement them when they needed to be implemented, – during the installation of the Smart Meters – because they felt that residents were already too much up in arms due to the Smart Meters. The skyrocketing costs that brought on the requirement for the rate increases in the first place are due to the unanticipated increases in costs from the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA) contract.
In addition, you are now being charged for the interconnection costs that are really the responsibility of business developers. This is because the city council agreed with city council member Steve Chirico that these costs were scaring away new business. So? Put the $8,000,000 cost collection on the back of the residents!!!
It is my firm belief that our city council makes important decisions regarding our electric and water utilities part of their political agendas – instead of purely business decisions for the good of the utility and the utility ratepayers. Utility ratepayers are residents and businesses.
Decisions regarding rates and operations of the two public utilities in Naperville should be taken out of the purview of the City Council.
Nancy steps up provides us with her opinions and reasons
I wonder if the other council members have the courage to asks the voters.