I see that La Plata Electric Association installed four free charging stations for members’ electric cars at LPEA’s Durango headquarters. Apparently, the chargers were paid for by a group called Charge Ahead Colorado, so at least someone else foots the bill. But who pays for the free electricity? If it’s the co-op membership, would LPEA install a complimentary gas pump for the 99 percent of members who don’t have electric cars? Sign me, Reddy Kilowatt
Action Line’s “initial” response to your question is TANSTAAFL.
That stands for There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.
Economists often use TANSTAAFL to describe how someone or something has to pay anytime someone or something gets something for nothing.
Talk about a zero-“some” game.
So let’s look at that “someone else,” Charge Ahead Colorado, which funded the $12,000 grant for the charging stations.
Charge Ahead is a cooperative program of the Regional Air Quality Council and the Colorado Energy Office to improve air quality and encourage e-vehicles across the state.
So “someone else” is actually you. But you’ll get cleaner air – as your investment return down the road, so to speak.
As for the chargers’ “free” electricity, it’s paid for by the member-owned La Plata Electric Association, according to our good friend and co-op spokeswoman Indiana Reed.
But don’t lick a socket, because it’s less than 20 bucks a month. That’s chump change.
Besides, don’t you want your electric co-op to be in front of the coming wave of e-vehicles?
The latest intelligence from Bloomberg shows electric cars outselling fossil-fuel ones within two decades thanks to better and cheaper batteries.
But here’s the kicker. LPEA’s new electric chargers promote the one product it sells. Aren’t businesses supposed to engage in marketing?
Do you begrudge City Market for offering free sushi samples? They’re not really free because promotional costs are rolled (again, so to speak) into the price of your futomaki.
“We’re the electric company, not the gas company,” Indiana said with a chuckle. “So it’s ‘no’ on the pump suggestion.”
TANSTAAFL might just stand for There Ain’t No Sense Adding A Fuel Location.
Last week’s column about north Main’s slow drivers sparked a rapid response. You might even call it Reverse Road Rage.
As you’ll recall, a reader signed as “Stuck Behind Idiots Who Don’t Know How to Drive” asked why the speed limit in town is 25 mph, but drivers aren’t informed that the north Main speed limit is 35 mph until they reach Taco Bell at 29th Street – and only with one lone sign.
“The distance between 14th Street and 32nd Street is 1.6 miles, so the difference in driving time between 25 mph and 35 mph is 42 seconds, according to my calculations,” writes a loyal reader whose penname is “The Idiot Who Wasted More Than 42 Seconds Figuring This Out.”
“This calculation, of course, assumes you’ll hit green lights all the way. That’s all the extra time you and your fellow ‘Idiots Who Gotta Down Three Beers After Getting Home’ save to get over your terrible workday,” our correspondent adds.
“Perhaps you should contact CDOT to complain about all those ‘Idiot Engineers Who Put All Those Stop Signals in Your Way.’”
Then our irascible correspondent drives the point home.
“As an ‘Idiot Who Doesn’t Drive at All,’ I appreciate those ‘Idiot Stop Signals’ and those ‘Idiots Who Slow Down for Pedestrians in Crosswalks.’ I suggest you take your Valium at a more appropriate time.”
Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can request anonymity if you wonder if e-bikers and e-vehicle owners get e-statements and smoke e-cigarettes. Egads!
