Puget Sound Energy's Clout

Ok, I am going to admit right off, this is a personal rant. But I happen to know there are several thousand people in Seattle with my same situation.

Several years ago I called Puget Sound Energy, our local, privately owned, gas utility. Most people in Seattle are customers of the public electrical utility. But, I have an oil furnace and the price of oil per barrel was going through the roof. Natural gas was not. So I wanted to have a gas line installed in my house, then convert to gas for heating and cooking.

The call was going along smoothly until I gave the customer service person my address. "Uh-oh," she said, "you're on an arterial." Apparently my city government makes me replace the whole concrete panel on my street for a 4' x 3' hole. The worse case came true in the gas main is across the street, making my problem doubly expensive. I would have to replace two concrete street panels to the tune of $15,000. I didn't and don't have that kind of money laying around. I appealed to the city, and they agreed that I didn't have to replace the whole panels, just most of it, reducing my cost a whopping $2,000.

As I type this, Puget Sound Energy's contractor is outside, on the main arterial, replacing a gas line for my next door neighbor. It's their maintenance, not the neighbor's request. They have dug their 4' x 3' hole. And they will patch it, not replace the concrete panel (which, by the way was replaced by the city last year, but not close enough for me to connect with the gas main). And what really upsets me is Puget Sound Energy is reducing their rates by 17% while my oil bill continues to sky rocket, and the City of Seattle just raised my electrical rates (I use electricity to cook) again!

I guess if you're a large monopoly you have much more clout with government than a solo citizen, and rules don't seem to matter. But why am I surprised?