Don't Sell Bay City Electric Light & Power, But Make Sure Service is Humane

World Needs to Know the Real Bay City -- A Caring, Helpful Town

February 5, 2009
By: Dave Rogers

For 140 years the City of Bay City has had its own municipal power facility.

The light department serves more than 20,000 homes in the city and surrounding townships with reliable service at reasonable rates, saving money for local residents.

The catastrophe that struck when Marvin E. Schur froze to death in his own home because the power had been shut off by a limiting device is perhaps the most tragic event in the utility's history.

And one of the most heart-wrenching in the history of the city.

A storm, an international torrent of protest over the war veteran's death, has engulfed the city and shook it to its roots -- and rightly so.

We need to honor the memory of Mr. Schur in every way possible. A memorial won't bring back Mr. Schur, but it would serve as a reminder that humanity should always come before business, that the fragile elderly and others in our society should be our main concern.

One way to honor Mr. Schur is to reform, preserve and improve the service that he and other city residents have embraced for 14 decades. And guarantee that no such tragedy ever occurs again.

His death must serve as a catalyst for a new attitude of Neighbor-to-Neighbor, an ongoing campaign of caring for our fellow men, women and children. Bay City has always been a generous town, one in which, if a need is known, people respond. There are fundraisers continually for the less fortunate and those who have suffered illness and have few resources to cope with them. This is a caring town and had the Marvin Schur circumstances have been known, neighbors and other citizens would have come to his aid. There is no doubt about that. Bay City is a caring town and this should not be forgotten in the rush to condemn, to point fingers, to accuse and punish.

The nation, the world, needs to know the real Bay City. We need to work together to overcome this catastrophe, to come together and look at our neighbors with a new level of concern and humane consideration. In such a time of economic stress there will undoubtedly be other situations where residents need support. We must be ready, as we were not ready in the case of Mr. Schur.

Dozens of life and death situations have occurred, and will continue to occur, because of financial problems brought on by the international recession/depression. One person losing a job affects an entire family. So restoration of our economy must be job one in safeguarding our citizens, our way of life in this little corner of the world.

We also hope the hysteria over this regrettable incident does not cause a stampede to actions that will not serve the city and its 36,000 residents well in the future.

Immediate calls to sell the light department should be carefully considered. Campaigns have gone on for more than 100 years to sell the city department to competing utilities. In the end, residents have always stood up for maintaining their own independent source of power. The light department is the one revenue-producing avenue that in the past has provided a surplus to fund other city services, helping to keep property taxes from going even higher.

The fact that the city can offer power to industries, retail and commercial enterprises at lower rates is the main economic development tool for local growth. And the fact that residential rates are about 20 percent below its closest competitor is a real benefit to local residents who subscribe to the service.

Reforms have been enacted in the way the service is provided; the limiters have been removed and there may soon be a state law banning them altogether. Other municipal power systems in Michigan and other states have used the limiters also and the state of Iowa, incredulously, is considering expanding their use. We would say unequivocally that is an obviously bad idea.

BCELP has served the Bay City area since 1868 when it was known as the Bay City Gas Light Company. It serves more than 20,000 customers in a service area that includes Bay City and the surrounding townships of Bangor, Frankenlust, Hampton, Monitor, and Portsmouth.

The utility is one of 2,000 community owned electric utilities that serves more than 42 million Americans.

The utility operates more than 500 miles of overhead and underground distribution lines, fed from 10 distribution substations. Power is provided to these facilities from wholesale purchases, ownership of coal-fired generators Belle River and Campbell through the Michigan Public Power Agency, and local peak-shaving generating capacity at our Water Street and Henry Street plants.

Bay City Electric, Light & Power at year end had assets of $64 million with total annual revenues of approximately $25.6 million.

BCELP currently has 44 employees fulfilling operations of the utility including line construction and maintenance, line clearance, street light maintenance, generating plant operation and maintenance, metering installation and maintenance, service building upkeep, purchasing materials and supplies, and system planning functions.