Tuesday, a little snowflake from PNM accused me of being mean to her.
As of 3:30PM Mountain Daylight Time on Tuesday, April 25, 2017, I am no longer associated with PNM. I have a disconnect date of May 10, simply to allow for the person who is buying my condo to step in and set up his service. If I disconnect early, apparently, they will charge him more money to reestablish the service. I believe it. To say I have a checkered and hostile history with PNM is an understatement. Unfortunately, if you are within their service area, your electrical rates have gone up nearly 50% since 2014. You are also paying one of the highest rates in the United States. Because New Mexico is so corrupt, no one cares. The outrageously high electrical rates are one reason I was forced to sell my condo. The situation with PNM was so bad, I could no longer afford to live in Ruidoso. As I mentioned in Wednesday’s post, part of the problem is the planned degradation of our lives, forcing the vast majority of we the little people into third world standards so we would be easier to control when it comes to climate change.
I wrote this in 2015.
“...For some strange reason, we’re no longer allowed to be comfortable – and to enjoy it. I don’t know when I’ve been truly warm. I have a heat-pump and live in an energy inefficient condo. Yes, it was my fault for being so stupid as to purchase it, but for the first ten years of living here, I was able to be warm in the winter. Today, though, I don’t know when I’ve been able to get a shower and not freeze before and after. Nights in my bedroom have an average temperature of 57 or 58. I have two fireplaces, but the cost of wood is prohibitive. So is the cost of electricity. Since 2010, PNM has raised our rates 41%. They are planning to raise residential rates another 16% next year. One of the reasons is to deal with the new EPA regulations on carbon emissions. The other is so that the board members can have a tidy compensation and the company, which is a public regulated utility can show a very good healthy bottom line. In the process, here in New Mexico, to insure this alleged bottom line, a major power plant will be taken off line, crippling the economy of an entire sector of the state. This is a part of the state where unemployment is chronic.
It’s now too expensive to run the air conditioning in the summer. You ration the number of lights which are kept on, during the evening. And, I have blankets hanging in front of a couple of my windows. This is 2015. People living in the United States should not be living this way.
On Wednesday, I picked up my weekly shopping at Wallyworld. I have no choice. There are two places to shop in the little town where I live. Two weeks ago, the price of gas was $1.89 a gallon. Today it is $2.19. That’s a thirty cent increase. If you need to buy twenty gallons of gas to fill the car, that’s $6 increase. It adds up. Just for myself, today, at the store, I spent $140. I bought nothing exotic. I bought a big bag of Meow Mix and 28 pounds of litter. That alone was $23. A few years ago, Wallyworld sold this incredible brand of crystal litter, that was only about $3.50 a bag. Forget that. You can’t break people that way. The price of Fancy Feast increased four cents a can in a week. There’s no need for it. I bought three potatoes, large ones. They were nearly four dollars. Trying to find the cheapest price on broccoli, I bought the cheap stuff. It was $2.75. When you are on a limited budget, it gets worse, each week.
Two years ago I had incredible health insurance. It was $164 a month with a yearly deductible of $1200. I could pick and choose my own doctors and go anywhere I wanted. Today, I have no insurance. I’m one of those people the system has glitched so that I can’t buy insurance. I thought it was just me, but evidently there are a couple million of us. It wouldn’t matter, anyway. The cheapest price I can get, here in New Mexico is $468 a month, with a yearly deductible of around $7000. I now have no health insurance. I can’t afford it…”
It all makes sick sense. Let’s be honest here. Since Susana Martinez became governor, the state has experienced a double dip recession, the second one – ongoing – is more like a depression. If anything, Santa Fe is more corrupt now that it was twenty years ago. She’s far more corrupt than Big Bill, and that says a heck of a lot. The state is currently experiencing the worst unemployment situation in the country. There are no jobs. Things are so bad, businesses are actually finding ways to hire people at below minimum wage. Things are so bad, people are taking the jobs. The state has three industries: Tourism, Oil, Poverty. The governor has not even bothered to recruit new business into the state. Why bother? New Mexico has the worst climate for business than any state in the northern hemisphere, including Canada and Mexico. Education is some of the worst in the nation. The situation involving families and children is among the worst. Rats are leaving the state like a sinking ship. As far as health care – just forget it. There are no rules, standards, or a sense of pride. People go out of their way to lie and cheat, whenever possible. Thursday afternoon I was talking to a person who has lived here his entire life. He said it has changed, and not for the good.
You would think, with the economic situation what it is, the governor would do something about holding PNM accountable for their actions. We all know that is about as likely as it is for her to stay sober during a pizza party in Santa Fe. As long as she gets to hobnob with the rich and near rich, and gets numerous donations to state officials, especially democrats. PNM is planning additional rate hikes in 2017 and 2018. Back in September of 2016, PNM raised rates by 9%. From 2010 to last summer the rate increases were 41%. Then you add the 9% to make it 50%. Now, by 2018 there will be an additional 14% increase, bring the increases up to 64%. When is enough enough?
From May, 2016 to May, 2016 my power bills were nearly $3,000. From May, 2016 – February, 2017 – my power bills totaled nearly $2900. If you read the links to other articles, I can prove how careful I’ve been with electrical use. I moved into my parents’ home on February 17. For the first time in years, I’ve been warm, during the winter. My total costs, so far, were $200 propane in August, another $200 several weeks ago, and a grand total – so far – of $350 in electricity charges. That is since August. On Tuesday, I was forced to shell out over $700 so that the person who is buying my condo could get the power turned on. PNM refuses to turn on power for a new customer until the previous one has paid their bill in full, even when that bill is disputed and they are no longer living at that location.
I explained my situation to the lovely young snowflake. I was angry. I am still angry. One of the reasons I’ve had to sell my condo, and will literally be homeless in a few months, if things don’t change, is because of PNM. There is another reason, which has more to do with a business deal that the guy has dragged his feet on, but unfortunately, people don’t give a damn, any more, how badly they destroy the lives of others. I mentioned I would be able to pay the bill, in full, by mid June. Unfortunately, that would not work. I explained PNM’s practices, faulty meters, and rate increases had destroyed my home.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.”
I told her she was not.
“How can you be so mean to me.”
“I’m not being mean. I’m being truthful.”
She told me the tone of my voice was mean. What I needed was government assistance. She could provide phone numbers for various programs to help me.”
“Why would I want that?”
“Because you need help. The government can help you.”
“I don’t want government help. I would like a little cooperation from PNM.”
“You are being so mean to me.”
“I would like to speak to a supervisor.”
“That’s mean.”
“You want mean? I want you to use your little snowflake fingers and contact a supervisor for me.”
I was disconnected after being on hold for seven minutes.
I made another call to PNM. The guy who answered the phone thought it was hilarious, especially when I explained how mean I was demanding she use her little snowflake fingers to locate a supervisor.
What enraged me even more than PNM was the demand I contact the government and get help. If PNM were a publicly traded corporation, the current CEO would rank #101 in CEO compensation – world wide. Tens of thousands of their customers are being financially ruined by their incompetence and greed. I am one of them.
