Your $50 Million Grant May Arrive Yet

 

Replacing the City of Grants Pass Water Plant will take longer than getting our FEMA funding.

Federal Judge Richard G. Sterns ruled that FEMA must restore billions of dollars in federal disaster mitigation funding, because Congress appropriated the money specifically for these grants and FEMA must follow the law that Congress passed.  We may yet get our $50 million grant for our new water plant.

We look forward to repeal of the panic-induced unit rate hikes that make our city utility bills less affordable.

Better would be to remove all the extra “City Services” fees from what was our water and sewer bill.  Find another way to collect small fees and large fees and remove the possibility of losing our homes because of non-payment of those fees.  Rationing rates for vital utilities has caused many people to lose their homes and wind up on the streets. 

Rate-rationed water has caused huge fires.  If Paradise had not rationed its water with ever-higher unit rates, it would not have burned.  Pacific Power got the blame but was not responsible for the dryness of that city and surrounding forest. 

Wildfire anywhere in or near a city can be laid to city water rationing that was never necessary.  Water vapor from sprinklers spreads upward and outward, humidifying its surroundings.  Evaporation is not waste.

 

12-17-2025 2-minute Speech to Grants Pass City Council

Rycke Brown, Natural Gardener      541-955-9040           rycke@gardener.com

Anonymous AP writer(s) ignore city water and sewer utilities

 

Grants Pass City Water Plant

Reading the Daily Courier, I found an Associated Press (AP) short, single-column article, “New Analysis shows more Americans are falling behind on their utility bills.”

The first thing I noticed was that they mention only electricity and natural gas utilities.  Water and sewer are ignored, along with various “city service fees” in many cities.  They have surpassed the combined prices of electricity and natural gas.  Water and sewer are natural monopolies; every city creates their own rate system and sets their own rates. 

The second was that Trump is blamed for promoting AI, which uses massive amounts of electricity, as though it wouldn’t happen without his say-so.  Electricity and natural gas prices are both regulated by state Public Utility Commissions.

Why did AP ignore water and sewer utilities?  Because the resulting dryness and heat of the air, land and surface water from less city irrigation provides the “evidence” of so-called “climate change,” which they blame on carbon dioxide and methane.

Water vapor is the only major greenhouse gas at 1%-4% of the air, but it also cools and warms the air and objects by phase changes: evaporative cooling; condensive warming; and clouds that do both.  Water is the moderator of our weather.  As humidity drops, temperatures and winds become more extreme.

12-3 -2025 2-minute Speech to Grants Pass City Council

Rycke Brown, Natural Gardener      541-955-9040           rycke@gardener.com

 

November 18^th 2025 pg. 5 A, e-edition

New Analysis shows more Americans are falling behind on their utility bills

Associated Press WASHINGTON — More people are falling behind on paying their bills to keep on the lights and heat their homes, according to a new analysis of consumer data — a warning sign for the U.S. economy and another political headache for President Donald Trump.

Past due balances to utility companies jumped 9.7% annually to $789 between the April-June periods of 2024 and 2025, said The Century Foundation, a liberal think tank, and the advocacy group Protect Borrowers. The increase has overlapped with a 12% jump in monthly energy bills during the same period.

Consumers usually prioritize their utility bills along with their mortgages and auto debt, said Julie Marget ta Morgan, the foundation’s president. The increase in both energy costs and delinquencies may suggest that consumers are falling behind on other bills, too.

Troubles paying electricity and natural gas bills reflect something of an economic quandary for Trump, who is promoting the buildout of the artificial intelligence industry as a key part of an economic boom he has promised for America. But AI data centers are known for their massive use of electricity and threaten to further increase utility bills for everyday Americans. During Trump’s first six months in office, there was a 3.8% increase in households with severely overdue utility bills.