There are two articles in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle of December 11 that involved surprises.
I am surprised that they are viewed as surprises.
One on the front page is that the City Council of Cheyenne voted down allowing High West Energy to operate in Cheyenne. Several council members as well as High West Energy were surprised. One council member who voted no is quoted as saying he asked the question "What's in it for the city?" He could think of nothing. As an elected representative of the citizens, he should have asked a different question. What's in it for the citizens? I'll try to answer that question.
I am surprised that they are viewed as surprises.
One on the front page is that the City Council of Cheyenne voted down allowing High West Energy to operate in Cheyenne. Several council members as well as High West Energy were surprised. One council member who voted no is quoted as saying he asked the question "What's in it for the city?" He could think of nothing. As an elected representative of the citizens, he should have asked a different question. What's in it for the citizens? I'll try to answer that question.
Reason one. High West could have continued serving its customers that are in areas annexed by the City.
Reason two. High West is a coop. Many people prefer coops. If nothing else there is a great lunch at the annual meeting. This year it was barbecue in Kimball Nebraska. There was also an entertaining speaker, plenty of coffee and tea, and good fellowship with friends and neighbors.
Reason three. Competition. There are many cities where choices can be made of which utility. There are even choices for wind or solar energy. It is a simple process to pay a usage fee to use the same wires and transformers. Duke Power of North Carolina has windmills on City of Cheyenne land and sells wind energy all over the country.
A second surprise in another article is that 190 million people will be getting a $5.25 per month per capita Federal fee on their health insurance starting in 2014. Why the surprise? Did they believe that government involvement in health care would have no related costs? Do they not understand that all the coming freebies will cost at least $700 billion over the next 10 years? Will anyone be surprised if it is not much more than that? The $25 billion interstate system so far has cost $560 billion. The new $5.25 fee per month per capita is to raise only $25 billion. Many other fees and taxes are coming.
Cowboy Safety is all about how to know what is coming and to implement strategies to deal with it. Cowboy Safety means no surprises.
David Sneed
