High electric bill, low patience

With the recent heat wave, many Southern California Edison customers received record high electric bills in July. After receiving a $700 bill, we implemented some dramatic conservation measures in an attempt to reduce our monthly electrical cost. When we received our July-August electric bill we had reduced our daily electrical usage 6 percent from the same period last year.

However, our bill was still $138 higher. A comparison analysis between last year and this year's bill revealed some shocking truths. Despite reducing our usage, our actual charge was 53 percent higher. This reality is contrary to Southern California Edison's claim that the rate hike for customers was 15 percent (as implemented in February).

Edison has a complicated, if not convoluted formula with many different rates based on "baseline" and "percentage over baseline." It is unbelievable that the Public Utilities Commission allowed Southern California Edison to raise the rates at such an excessive level.

The average homeowner in Oak Park and surrounding areas can't possibly run their residence on the "baseline" allowance. Therefore, we are disproportionately penalized by the egregious rate increases allowed by the PUC.

Adding insult to injury, the electrical system in Oak Park is old and constantly fails. We have experienced frequent and lengthy power outages over the past six months. We have seen little evidence the Edison is committed to improving the local electrical system infrastructure, but seems content to misrepresent to the public the actual rate increases that all of us must now suffer through. Michael Paule Oak Park