Connittoo For Fair Electric PHCSIDEHT'S PROPOSAL JEOPARDIZES MINORITY PROCUREnEnTS
Rates Calls For Ropoal
The Committee for
Fair . Electric Rates
called today for the repeal
of the 1977 public utili
ties law known as Con
struction Work In Progress
(CWIP). Henry Cole,
a represetative of the
Committee charged that
"CWIP is a windfall for
the utility companies and
a disaster for North Caro
lina ratepayers." ,
Under CWIP utility
ratepayers, beginning July
1, 1979, will be required
to pay the cost of finan
cing new power plants from
the moment that the ground
is broken in the construc
tion of new generating facil
ities. Currently, ratepayers
are charged after the plants
are in operation or are
defined as being "used or
useful". '
In a letter to Senator
Jack Childres and Repre
sentative Jay Huskkis,
Co-Chairman of the Joint
House and Senate Legisla
tive Utilities Review Com
mittee, calling for repeal of
CWIP, the Committee for
Fair electric Rates charged
,'hat "CWIP makes
ratepayers shoulder an un
reasonabfe and unfair risk;
we will now have to bear
the burden the risk and
the consequences of
investing in new utility
power plants without being
allowed to share any pro
fits or decision-making
power enjoyed by the
utilities and their investors.'.'
The group further claimed
that "the 1977 Legis
lature's precipitous action
represents an unprecedented
subisdization of the electric
power comapnies at the ex
pense of North Carolina
ratepayers" and added that
by allowing "CWIP in the
rate base, today's ratepay
ers are paying for future
power they may never
receive while providing
incentives for utilities
to finance potentially un
necessary power plants."
The Committee is also
released today a special
report entitled,
The Law Requiring Con
I strwtiQH,WQtk iJfrQgr&su.
"Reasonable atidFffirTQ,
' Both Consumers and in
vestors"? that strongly
cirticizes the CWIP law and
outlines a number of serious
drawbacks which will ad
versely affect North
Carolina's uitlity ratepayers.
Among the report's findings
are that CWIP:
Forces current custom
ers to pay now for plants
which will obviously serve
future customers, not
current customers.
Requires many cus
tomers (i.e., senior citizens
and those that move outside
of the utility service area)
to buy power they may
never use.
Forces ratepayers to
finance power plants that
may never yield electricity
because of projects being
either cancelled prior to
completion or never be
coming operation once com
pleted due to a decrease in
projected demand for elec
tricity. Untairly shifts invest
ment risks from investors to
ratepayers, without com
pensating ratepayers for
their risks. This a com
plete reversal of the
entire meaning of the free
enterprise system because
it forces ratepayers to in
vest but not be allowed
to reap any of the pro
fits. Removes incentives for
the utility companies to
curb unwarranted contruc-
tion costs or to evaulate the "
need for new plants.
Increases ratepayers'
electric bills today, at a time
when it is already tremend
ously diffficult for families
to meet increasing monthly
costs. It's just not a bar
gain for the ratepayer! We
might be better investing
our money in utility com
pany stock!
Gives no guarantee that
regulatory agencies will
adequately protect rate
payer interests,
especially since North Caro
lina is the only state that
has required CWIP
by legislative mandate.
It's not necessary - the
utility companies can do
what other businesses do.
They can sell stock and
bonds, borrow from banks
or hold back some of
their profits. This would be
much fairer than taking it
from the consumer.
The Committee for Fair
Electric Rates is a 'group of
adncerrad- -taxpayers
. working , -for the repeal o
of CWIP in North Carolina.
For more information
contact:
Jim Overton (Chapel
Hill) 929-2141, Henry Cole
(Durham) 688-1074, Jeff
London (Raleigh) 832-8647
or Tina Podolak (Pittsboro)
5424538.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -Today,
Eugene Baker, Presi
dent of the National Asso
ciation of Black Manufac
turers, Inc. accused the
Carter Administration of
Agriculture Dcpartmont
Seminar At Southern U.
WASHINGTON - The
first of five regional
seminars sponsored by the
U.S. Department of Agri
culture to familiarize min
orities with its programs,
will be held March 7 and
8 at Southern University,
Baton Rouge, La. :
Assistant Secretary of
Agriculture Joan S. Wallace
and other agriculture
department officials
from Washington, will dis
cuss department programs
and services with local and
state community leaders at
the seminar.
Dr. Wallace said "the
seminars are designed to
improve communications
between persons responsible
for delivering the more
than 300 programs of the
department and the
people who are the reci
pients." David Unger, deputy as
sistant secretary of agri
culture, and Kenneth Lat
cholia, deputy administra
tor of Farmers Home Ad
ministrtion will be among
speakers at Southern Uni
versity. 1 '
Other seminars will
follow at: Tennessee
State University, Nash
ville, April 5-6; North
Carolina A&T Univer-'
sity, Greensboro, May 10
11; University of New
Mexico, Albuquerque, May
17-18; and at the Sham
rock Hotel, Houston, Tex
as, Sept. 13-14 with Prairie
View A&M University as
host. :
The seminars are coor
dinated by the depart
ment's Office of Equal
Opportunity. '
Luxury Living At ModcrzU Prim
FRESHLY PAINTED AND CIEANCD MKiTI
WALL PAPER SPACIOUS UNITS
(Utdftfionly) wi 6Mto d-tla tO to m
-DRAPES tCARPET
-APPLIANCES
(tort (ratff) , ak iunO, wWjwiM
24-HOUR PROFESSIONAL
ON-SITE MANAGEMENT
CALL 68M34 TODAY
having forgotten its com
mitment of increasing pro-
curement , activities for'
minority small business by
seeking to repeal various
federal policies requiring
key federal agencies to set
aside portions of their pro
curement contracts for
small and minority enter
prise. This lastest effort by
the Administration is
PRESIDENT GREETS NOTED EDUCATOR - President Carter greets noted educa
tor and author Dr. Kenneth 3. Clark during a recent White House visit. Dr. Clark, who
is president of Clark. Phipps, Clark and Harris. Inc. in New York City, was in
Washington to be honored at the Second Annual Dinner of the Joint Center for Political
Studies. Dr. Clark helped establish the Joint Center in 1970 and new serves on the Board
of Governors. He was the founder and president of the Metropolitan Applied Research
Center in New York City and is professor of psychology emeritus from the City Univer
sity of New York. He has been a member of the Board of Regents of the State of New
York since 1966 and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago.
required under the terms of
the multilateral trade pact
agreed to, in principle, by
the U.S.
Eugene Baker blasted
this action as inexcusable.
He stated further that this
new effort would have a 1
disasterous effect on the
position of minorities
in the national economy
and ring the death of hope
for young blacks. Baker
continued, "It appears that
the President has forgotten
the promise he made just
a year ago of increasing
minority small business by
tripling procurement activi
ties. Before the ink has
dried on the first minority
enterprise legislation, P.L.
96-507 the Administration
has opened the flood gates
to foreign competition
which could ruin all the
sweat and labor expended
to get the first minority
enterprise bill passed".
The Trade agreement
was made in return for a
pledge by the European
common market and Japan
to open up more of their
procurement opportunities
to American exporters. Re
laxing current restrictions in
federal procurement policies
will hurt the very firms
that .previous administra
tions have tried to protect
and help. Representative
Joseph Addabbo (D-NY)
lias denounced the pro
visions as a setback for
longtime efforts to
encourage black-owned
businesses.
Baker said he hopes the
Congress will be cognizant
of the irreparable harm the
trade pact would inflict on
small and minority business
and reject it.
Baker called the devleop
ments sheer mind-boggling
when considering that the
Administration permitted
negotiations to progress
this far without touching
base with representatives of
the industries. "Carter's
efforts to relax those pro
visions of procurement set
aside laws that favor
minority small business
are short-sighted and would
have a negative impact on
black unemployment and
the revitalization of the
nation's inner cities. NABM
estimates that should the
proposal win congreessional
approval, it would have a
disproportionate impact on
the section 8(a) program.
Now that P.L. 95-507
has finally put some teeth
into the 8(a) program, the
Administration starts to pull
theiri out".
The NABM President
questioned whether die
multilateral agreement ad
heres to the Spirit of the
Trade act of 1974, which
specifically limits such
negotiations to those areas
for which a domestic
capacity does not exist.
Minority firms have
everything to lose and
nothing to gain from the
trade agreement because
only a limited number of
minority companies are
currently involved in intern
ational markets. The federal
programs designed to
enchance their position
are only superficial in
nature and have very little
impact, if any.
The National Association
of Black Manufacturers will
be working in conjunction
with other minority trade
groups the National Small
Business Association in an
effort to monitor the
the progress of the Admin
istration's proposal.
The National Associa
tion of Black Manufac
turers is a non-profit organi
zation dedicated to the in
terests of minority business.
Clhedkiimteo
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