Recently, a friend e-mailed me a story – an urban legend, really – about a minister who, when unveiling his church’s new tithing campaign slogan, gave parishioners an unexpected message:
“I Upped My Pledge – Up Yours.”
It’s a slogan that Xcel Energy, Qwest, and Comcast should consider using. Especially after they, rather generously, donated money to help Denver secure the Democratic National Convention.
After all, does any fair-minded Denver ite believe that public utilities – one a monopoly, the other two darn close – should pledge money to political parties? (Before you answer, try flipping the word “Democratic” with “Republican” for the remainder of the column.)
Because Qwest and Comcast have both guaranteed $5 million to the cause of bringing the Democratic National Convention to Denver. Xcel Energy has chipped in $1.5 million.
Not a lot of money, in the big picture, sure. And no one can argue that reeling in a major party’s convention would be an economic boon for the city. It’s quite prestigious. (Ratings prove that upwards of a thousand people will probably tune in to watch).
The thing is, Xcel just asked the Colorado Public Utility Commission for a $41.5 million increase in natural-gas rates. And the company will probably get it.
That appeal came only a month after state regulators had already approved Xcel’s request for a $107 million electric rate hike.
The justifications for these rate hikes were, in part, the recovery of investments in natural-gas facilities. Which may be legitimate. I leave that to the levelheaded energy executive guys at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to decide.
But if Xcel is charging us higher rates, without a fair market to dictate price, should it also be in a position to hand out money for political events?
Couldn’t a million bucks help out with paper clips or something?
To top it off, Xcel, in a full-scale assault on common sense, went on to claim that the money was only about “civic” duty and had nothing to do with politics.
Yeah, and I sat through “The Break-Up” (twice) because of Jennifer Aniston’s exceptional acting skills.
Now, Xcel might believe this is apolitical. But I wonder: Would a hotshot fundraiser like Steve Farber, the City Council, Sen. Ken Salazar, Gov.-elect Bill Ritter and Mayor John Hickenlooper be as energetic and “civic minded” if we were talking about Republicans?
In truth, the chief selling point of Denver as the 2008 convention hinges on Colorado, chock full of independents and disheartened Republicans, being front-and- center in the Democratic takeover of the West.
Sen. Salazar, in fact, recently told The New York Times that “it would be a mistake to have it in New York. The Rocky Mountain West and the Southwest are key parts of the new direction for the Democratic Party, so if it’s just on the merits, there’s no question that it should be held in Denver.”
I don’t know, that sounds awfully political to me.
And Salazar is absolutely right. Colorado is a key for Democrats in 2008. I just don’t want to be forced to help make the senator’s dream a reality.
Deborah Collette is a spokeswoman for the Public Utilities Commission. I asked her if the commission will take into consideration what Xcel is doing.
Her answer was no.
“Donations such as this are probably from the parent company, and the PUC has no control over the parent company. We deal with Xcel in Colorado,” she said.
This isn’t a partisan issue. Many e-mailers – some of them zealous Dems who are religiously on my case – wrote to complain about the Xcel hypocrisy.
They could call the company and complain. Tell them to stop sticking it to us and stick to what it does best: making sure my heat works (most of the time).
Don’t hold your breath, though.
You all know the second half of the minister’s slogan.
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday and Thursday. He can be reached at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com
