Consumers talk
at electric bills
HARRISBURG (AP)—What common bond exists between a
67-year-old retired state employe from the affluent
Harrisburg suburb of Camp Hill and two housewives from the
depressed anthracite fields?
Outrage over fuel adjustment charges on their electric bills!
Marie E'erfetto and Theresa Bordick got lost driving from
their homes in Old Forge, near Scranton, to Harrisburg. They
had trouble finding the Public Utility Commission office at the
Capitol.
William P. Coombs drove over the Susquehanna River from
his home. After 30 years of work in state government he had
no trouble finding the PUC office.
All three are customers of the Pennsylvania Power and
Light Company, the Allentown-based, utility which ironically
has one of the lowest fuel adjustment charges of any power
company in the state.
All three also live in all-electric homes. But they're afraid .
that the charge the. utility adds to their bills to help pay for the
soaring cost of fuels to produce electricity is more than they
can afford.
Coombs, who founded the Pennsylvania Association of
Older Persons in 1969, says his electric bill about every two
months runs over $2OO. The last one was $245 with a fuel ad
justment charge of $75. The charge has)been as high as $B5, he
said.
He says it may eventually cost him his-home.
"The fuel adjustment charge added onto the increasing bill
has forced me to borrow money every time the bill comes due.
The only recourse I have is to put my home up for sale because
I can't keep borrowing," Coombs said.
His complaint is that utilities add on the fuel adjustment
charge without prior approval of the PUC and with inadequate
public accounting.
"I'm not out to kill PP and L; don't get me wrong. But I'm
not convinced they're doing this thing the way they should. In
effect, they're getting a rate hike without PUC approval," he
said.
So far,
,Woombs says he hasn't gotten any satisfaction from
the company:
"Sure, I've been to PP and L a number of times. Finally,
they sent some guy to my house and he gave me a fairy story.
He kept pointing to space heaters and saying they would raise
my bill. And I kept telling him that we hadn't been using the
heaters.
Publicity grounds for legal a battle
Boyle attorneys
MEDIA, Pa. (AP)—W.A
"Tony" Boyle, the once
powerful president of the
United Mine Workers now'
ailing in a federal prison,
today seeks to set aside his
conviction of murdering a
union rival on grounds that
excessive publicity denied
him a fair trial.
The 73-year-old Boyle,
convicted last April 10 of first
degree murder for arranging
the assassination of Joseph
"Jock" Yablonski, and his
wife and daughter, won't be
present in Delaware County
Common Pleas Court when
opposing attorneys make
their legal arguments before
a three-judge panel headed by
Judge Francis J. Catania,
who had presided at the
UMW
safety
WASHINGTON (AP)—James M. Day,
director of the federal agency that enforces
coal mine safety laws, resigned yesterday
following along campaign for his ouster by
the United Mine Workers union.
Day's resignation as head of the Mining
Enforcement and Safety Administration is
effective - July 1, an Interior Department
spokesman said.
Day was reported out of town and could not
be reached for comment. However, an ad
ministration source said that opposition to
Day by UMW President Arnold Miller and
other labor leaders was a major factor in the
resignation.
Miller has said Day is industry-biased and
has failed to aggressively enforce coal mine
safety laws passed by Congress.
A holdover from the Nixon administration,
Day was appointed to the office in August
1973 soon after it was created to administer
mine health and safety standards. Before
creation of the agency, these standards had
been enforced by the Bureau of Mines.
Richardson has ski mishap
ST. ANTON AM
ARLBERG, Austria
(UPI)—U.S. Ambassador to
Britain Elliot Richardson and
his wife Anne narrowly
escaped injury yesterday
when they were buried by a
small snowslide while skiing
on the Arlberg slopes.
Richardson said they
managed to dig themselves
month-long trial.
Boyle is in custody at
Springfield, Mo., where he is
completing a three-year
sentence for making illegal
political contributions with
union funds.
His three mandatory life
sentences for murder, if
upheld, would be servedin a
Pennsylvania prison. 1,
The Yablonskis were slain
Dec. 31, 1969, as' they slept in
their Clarksville home in
rural western Pennsylvania,
about 30 miles northwest of
Pittsburgh.
Eight other persons have
either confessed or been
convicted in the slayings.
Special Prosecutor Richard
A. Sprague had charged
Boyle ordered Yablonski
complaints' force
director to resign
out and were not hurt
"It happened while we Were_
skiing on .a slope near here
with two of our children and
one English friend," he said.
"I and my wife were, hit by
the snowslide, the others were
not affected. I did not report
the mishap to the
authorities."
Austrian' -police said they
•
"I' m not saying their costs haven't gone up. BM until there's
been ani audit, I don't think the electric companies cgtsay
they're 4pen and above board."
Coombs thinks the probleth is particularly acute for senior
'citizens. .
"We're operating on a very restricted income. The amount
of social security we get has never been adequhte. And many
i?eotple don't have the benefit of another pension besides social
security;" he said.
So Coombs, Mrs. Perfetto and Mrsi Bordick all went to see
PUC Cotnmissioner Herbert Denenberg this week. They want
him to press for fast action on an investigation of the fuel
adjustment allowance.
The women.brought along a stack of petitions which they
said were signed by 6,581 PP and L customers in Wilkes-
Barre, Scranton and dozens of small tOwns in the northeast.
Mrs. Bordick got the grassroots customer revolt started in
January after the Tri-Boro Banner, a weekly newspaper,
published her written complaint of the utility charge. Several
similar articles in the newspaper brOught 40 telephone calls
from other customers and a decision to circulate petitions.
Their stories also prompted a visit from PP and L
representatiVes to Old Forge in February.
"They gave us a snow job,"- said Mrs. Perfetto of the
meeting. "You had to be a lawyer or an economist to un
derstand their explanatibn. They should have spoken to us as
housewives.':'
"They told us you have to change your life style" to cut
electric bills] fumed Mrs. Bordick.
"I'm using 600 kilowatts less per month this year than last
year but my electric bill is higher. How much do I have to
conserve? Do I have to turn the heat off? I have two children
in my house," added Mrs. Perfetto.
The Bordicks pay an average of $B9 monthly for electricity,
$2l of that for the fuel adjustmerl. charge.. The Perfetto's
atonthly bill is about $lOB with the hie' adjustment in the 25 to
30 per cent range which the PUC says is average.
Denenberg, whose gubernatorial iappointment to the PUC
still awaits Senate confirmation, sympathizes, as he always
has, with the consumers. ,
"As a just published U.S. Senate study concludes, the fuel
adjustment allowance cost to consumers nationally was $6.5
billion last year, more than the total rate increases of the
previous 25 years," Denenberg said in a statement.
Under a new program, the regulatory agency - wants:
—a general investigation of the allowance.
—audits of the allowance by the PUC staff as well as by the
utilities.
separate listing on utility bills of the charge; a practice
which PP and L and some other utilities have, already started.
seek new trial
killed and then • authorized
$20,000 in union funds to
finance it.
"This man used the blood
and sweat of miners for
killing," Sprague said after
the guilty verdicts which he
called : "the end of the line" in
a case that attracted in
ternational 'attention.
Boyle's appeal for a new
trial will be• argued by
Charles Peruto, like Sprague
a former assistant district
attorney in neighboring
Philadelphia.
"We are going to stress the
excessive pre-trial
publicity," Peruto said, but
declined to give any further
details on grounds that the
court had imposed a ban on
pre-hearing discussion.
From the beginning. Day was a con
troversial appointment. Both the UMW and
the United Steelworkers Union called for his
ouster, along with a ,number of coal-state
congressmen.
In a statement, the UMW hailed Day's
decision to step down and urged that "the
new director of MESA he someone with long
experience in coal mining ~and a "proven
record of commitment to mine safety."
The UMW complained that Day had little
experience in coal-related fields when he was
appointed to the post•.'
Day, 44, worked for the Central
Intelligence Agency' , from 1953 to 1959 and
was a practicing attorney in Washington
from 1959 until 1970, when he was named
director of the office of hearings and appeals
for the Interior Department.
Day's appointment to head MESA was
made without Senate confirmation, 'hut Con
gress has since voted to put the post under
Senate scrutiny.
had no knowledge of the in
cident.
Richardson said he called
his personal assistant, Tony
Ripley, at the London em
bassy and informed hint
about the mishap.
The couple went to Arlberg
in western Austria Friday
Boyle's defense at the trial
was headed, by Charles F.
Moses of Billings, Mont., .the
state where the defendant had
begun his rise to labor power.
Boyle, a foilner coal miner,
had headed the i 200,000-
member UMW for 11 years,
succeeding the legendary
John L. Lewis.
Yablonski had organized a
reform movement in 1969 in
an unsuccessful challenge to
topple Boyle, losing the
election three weeks before
he was killed.
Now Yablonski's lawyer
son, Joseph Jr., is chief
counsel for the union.
MEATBALL
HOAGIE
$1.25
THE CATTLE CAR
I'enn Slate In\ national Film FestiN al
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AMERICAN LIFE IN FILM ,
The Magnificent Ambersons (Orson Welles - 1942) Wed. March 26
The story of the declining magnificence of an American
dynAty at the turn of the century.
Rebel Without A Cause (Nicholas Ray - 1955) Thurs. March 27
James Dean, Natalie Wood, and Sal Mineo in the classic story
of a modern misfit.
ts•
On The Waterfront (Elia-Kazan - 1954) Fri. March 28
The classic drama of the New York docks; v 47 Academy
Awards, including Marlon Brando for best actor.
• The Graduate (Mike Nichols - 1967) Sat. March 29
Asocial satire starring Dustin Hoffman with music by Simon
and Garfunkel.
A Thousand Clowns (Fred Coe - 1966) Sun. March 30
An object 17sson on love versus non-conformity and a classic
comedy starring Jason Robards.
The Misfits (John Huston - 1961) Mon. March 31
Scripted by Arthur Miller, a story of the "modern" west.
Starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, in their last film
appearance.
ADMISSION' FREE
7 & 9 PM Kern Auditorium
•
Kissinger,Ghorbal confer
WASHINGTON (UPI)
Secretary of State Henry A.
Kissinger last night assured
Egyptian Ambassador Ashraf
A. Ghorbal that the United
States was determined to
continue its efforts to achieve
peace with justice in the
Middle East.
Ghorbal met with Kissinger
after the secretary bad had
an earlier discussion with
Israeli Ambassador Simcha
Dinitz.
Neither ambassador would
disclose substantive details of
their discussions with
Kissinger. Diplomatic
sources described the nature
of Kissinger's assurance to
Ghorbal.
Dinitz said his meeting with
the secretary was a general
review of the new situation in
the Middle East and the
prospects for the reopening of
the Geneva peace conference
between Israel and the Arab
countries.
Dinitz said the possibility of
a return to the Geneva con
ference table always had
existed but as far as he knew
no decision had been made
with regard to it.
"However," he said, "we
have said on a_ number of
occasions that we do not rule
out a return to Geneva. We
never thought it would be a
particularly effective forum,
but a declaratory forum.
However, if the situation
develops that Geneva is
reconvened, naturally we
would have to see the thing as
it comes."
Dinitz said Kissinger had
said nothing to imply he
thought Israel might have
been responsible for the
Middle East diplomatic
The Daily Collegian Wednesday, March 26, 1975-
stalemate by holding fast to
its position.
"We have had very useful
talks," Dinitz said, "and I
was happy and pleased to
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Best Actress-Gena Rowlands
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