Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan raybz Coso.
Speaker 2: Sorry, welcome back our number two here on a Wednesday night,
Speaker 2: and Marita and I thought that it might be good
Speaker 2: tonight to talk for a little while about utility bills
Speaker 2: here in Massachusetts. There's a been a real cry and
Speaker 2: outrage by customers of many of the utilities. I'm not
Speaker 2: focusing on any specific utility. Most of us in Massachusetts
Speaker 2: don't have a choice simply because you kin'd have different
Speaker 2: gas lines and different electric lines, and so depending upon
Speaker 2: the community in which you live, you have to be
Speaker 2: serviced by the utilities that provide those services in your
Speaker 2: town or in your And last November, apparently on November first,
Speaker 2: the Department of Public Utilities granted went fairly unnoticed by
Speaker 2: the major media outlets and certainly not by the politicians.
Speaker 2: As I understand it, the DPU, the Department of Public Utilities,
Speaker 2: gave the utilities here, the big businesses that provide electricity
Speaker 2: and gas service to us here in the coldest region
Speaker 2: of the country, and by the way, a region of
Speaker 2: the country that is very far away from the production
Speaker 2: centers in the country. We have had people here in Massachusetts,
Speaker 2: and I'm sure in other states who have not wanted
Speaker 2: more gas lines to be buried underground. And a lot
Speaker 2: of those folks are what's called nimby. Not in my backyard.
Speaker 2: It's an old story. I think most of us understand
Speaker 2: what that means that when all of a sudden they
Speaker 2: want to bring another gas line in, either from the
Speaker 2: southwest somewhere, or Pennsylvania or Canada, you get a lot
Speaker 2: of pushback from people. And when it turns winter time
Speaker 2: and the demand for these energy supplies, whether again it's
Speaker 2: electricity or gas or I guess also you know the
Speaker 2: oil costs people who rely upon oil to heat their homes.
Speaker 2: I'm sure the oil prices have skyrocketed as well. This
Speaker 2: will give you an opportunity to join the conversation. Tell
Speaker 2: us what it's been like in your community. I've done
Speaker 2: a little bit of I guess you'd call it homework.
Speaker 2: I like to try to do a little homework on
Speaker 2: this stuff. And the easiest way for me to do
Speaker 2: homework is to look at my own bills and say, okay,
Speaker 2: you know, what does what does this look like? And
Speaker 2: it appears to me that in terms of my own situation,
Speaker 2: without going into it deeply, I have you know, gas
Speaker 2: and gas service and electric service. And it appears that
Speaker 2: the gas service is up a little bit from a
Speaker 2: year ago, and the cost of the the therms and
Speaker 2: this would be the same cost for you, has have
Speaker 2: gone up about you know, I guess you'd say probably
Speaker 2: thirty percent. But the gas supply charge, uh, you know,
Speaker 2: which is based upon the number of therms that you have,
Speaker 2: has gone up just a little bit, not a huge difference,
Speaker 2: I am using. And I recognize that I'm using more
Speaker 2: therms because January was a colder month. So I don't
Speaker 2: have a huge argument with my my gas charge because
Speaker 2: most of it, pretty apparent to me is a consequence
Speaker 2: of the weather. And I do, and I really do
Speaker 2: see it that way. And you know, I can complain
Speaker 2: with the best of them, as I'm sure some of
Speaker 2: you can complain as well. But when you start talking
Speaker 2: about your electric charges again, you know, year to year,
Speaker 2: trying to be trying to be honest, it looks as
Speaker 2: if the generation supply charge that I'm paying, and you know,
Speaker 2: obviously you're paying as well, has gone up about one
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty percent. That's a big jump. That is
Speaker 2: a big jump I actually used and you know all
Speaker 2: of us can have you know, different levels. I did
Speaker 2: use more electricity and my home is is heated in
Speaker 2: some part by electricity. So and and I've had I've
Speaker 2: had an increase, uh, no doubt. But some of the
Speaker 2: increases that I've heard people talk about, some of the
Speaker 2: increases have been just absolutely outrageous. Uh. And if if
Speaker 2: you're somebody who has had a huge increase, I'd like
Speaker 2: to hear from you. I'm looking at and again my
Speaker 2: my bills. I see that the you know, the the supply,
Speaker 2: the delivery charge uh, has has gone up. And it
Speaker 2: does it fluctuates. Obviously, my my usage is really about
Speaker 2: the same, but I'm paying more. Actually my usage, my
Speaker 2: usage is less on a month to month basis this
Speaker 2: year for some reason, I can serve it actually more,
Speaker 2: but it still costs a lot of money. So I
Speaker 2: just want to open up the lines and give you
Speaker 2: an opportunity to comment on this. Now here's my problem.
Speaker 2: I noticed today that I think the governor had initially said, well,
Speaker 2: we got to get them to give people a five
Speaker 2: percent decrease, and the companies have actually, in well ever
Speaker 2: source to their credit has actually said that let me
Speaker 2: quote you here, since following the dpu's direction last week
Speaker 2: in the face of higher than normal natural gas bills,
Speaker 2: they would reduce delivery rates by five percent of the
Speaker 2: total bill. That's what the DPU directed them to do. Ever,
Speaker 2: so as we filed a plan earlier this week that
Speaker 2: makes a ten percent reduction to the local delivery adjustment
Speaker 2: charge from March and April. Now, the problem is that
Speaker 2: we're were the watchdogs. Where were the politicians who're supposed
Speaker 2: to follow this closely. The increase was granted in November,
Speaker 2: So you've gotten bills now for November, for December, for January,
Speaker 2: and maybe depending upon when you bill hits, it could
Speaker 2: be February as well. You're going to get a little
Speaker 2: bit of a break in March in April, but then
Speaker 2: that March and April break will be recouped by these
Speaker 2: companies in the warmer months, summer months June, July, August,
Speaker 2: and September. And I guess the governor today said that
Speaker 2: she wants to file some legislation which is going to
Speaker 2: mandate this or mandate that. Well, Governor, with all due respects,
Speaker 2: who was watching the store in November, big staff, did
Speaker 2: anyone say, hey, look, believe it or not. If we
Speaker 2: have a cold winter here, we're going to get socked
Speaker 2: with it. So who do you want to blame here?
Speaker 2: I blame the politicians, to be really honest with you,
Speaker 2: the gas companies and the electric companies. We can make them.
Speaker 2: You can think of them as the bad guys because
Speaker 2: the other people you're ready the check to. But it
Speaker 2: would seem to me that November, December, January, now almost
Speaker 2: through the end of February the first time we're thinking
Speaker 2: about the governor's thinking about filing some legislation. Again, who
Speaker 2: you elect is going to have an impact. Now, I'm
Speaker 2: not going to blame Governor Healy for not sitting in
Speaker 2: that DPU meeting, but you would think that someone in
Speaker 2: her staff should have sent to our governor. The DPU
Speaker 2: just gave a rate increase which is not going to
Speaker 2: be felt by people for a couple of months. But
Speaker 2: when they do feel it, they're going to be outraged,
Speaker 2: and they're going to be outraged at you, uh and
Speaker 2: others at the State House. So let's open it up here.
Speaker 2: Six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty six one seven,
Speaker 2: nine three one ten thirty Does this concern you if
Speaker 2: you are look If you're a homeowner, you've seen the difference.
Speaker 2: If you're a renter. If you're a renter, many renters
Speaker 2: pay their own electric and gas bills separately, you may
Speaker 2: have seen the difference. And even if you're a renter
Speaker 2: for whom your electric bill and your gas bill was take,
Speaker 2: it was counted. And I don't know how many of
Speaker 2: you are in that situation, you know that the costs
Speaker 2: are going to be passed on to you, So let's
Speaker 2: open them up. Six one, seven, two, five, four ten
Speaker 2: thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty. Why
Speaker 2: is it that with all these sharp politicians at the
Speaker 2: state House, no one noticed this in November, in December,
Speaker 2: or in January. And we can blame them, but they
Speaker 2: don't care. They really don't care, okay, because they only
Speaker 2: care when people howl with indignation. So let's do some howling.
Speaker 2: Coming back on nights Side right after this.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan ray Line from the Window World
Speaker 1: Night Side Studios on w b Z, the news radio.
Speaker 2: We'll get right to the phones. But I was just
Speaker 2: looking at the Globe report. John Chastow, who's been on
Speaker 2: the show many times, says that today, meaning this day, Wednesday, Governor.
Speaker 2: Healy spoke to the Great Boston Chamber of Commerce and
Speaker 2: pledged today that she would file legislation to address energy
Speaker 2: affordability and independence in coming weeks. Well, good for you, Governor,
Speaker 2: it's a little late for this winter, it seems to me,
Speaker 2: Heally said. I know the bills, I get them myself. Okay,
Speaker 2: But there's a lot of people, Governor, who are not
Speaker 2: making what the governor makes, and they're living in Massachusetts
Speaker 2: as well, not making what the Speaker makes, not making
Speaker 2: what the Senate President makes. They're the ones that are
Speaker 2: really feeling it. The Massachuset Department of Public Utilities did
Speaker 2: approve increases of ten to thirty percent last fall in
Speaker 2: gas bills for the six month heating season, in part
Speaker 2: because of rising costs associated with the state's mass Save
Speaker 2: Energy efficiency program and gas pipeline replacement projects. Hey, let
Speaker 2: me tell you something. A lot of people have fought
Speaker 2: against gas line replacement projects because they don't want them
Speaker 2: in their backyard. And that's a problem. You know, nobody
Speaker 2: wants the inconvenience of gas pipelines in your community, but
Speaker 2: you sure want the gas when it turns cold. In
Speaker 2: January and February, and December. The governor told reporters should
Speaker 2: be looking at discounts, red tape that can be eliminated,
Speaker 2: and programs that are not working effectively and should be changed,
Speaker 2: though she didn't name a particular program. She needs more
Speaker 2: conversations with her Secretary of Energy, Rebecca Kepper. Let me
Speaker 2: tell you reactive that's reactive, that is not proactive. They
Speaker 2: should have been thinking about this last September, last October,
Speaker 2: and they should have been talking with the DPU, and
Speaker 2: all of us would be better shaped financially as a result.
Speaker 2: But you live in a one party state, you get
Speaker 2: one party state government. Let's go to the phones. Barry
Speaker 2: in Norwell, very welcome. You are first this hour on
Speaker 2: night Side. Yeah. I can't make sure you turned that
Speaker 2: radio down because it's gonna be a little distracting and
Speaker 2: confusing if you have that on in the background.
Speaker 3: Go right ahead, Barry. I'm your bookstore owner.
Speaker 4: And the.
Speaker 3: Chuggers I almost fell over the other day were like
Speaker 3: nine for a month.
Speaker 2: Was electricity, electricity gas or what was it?
Speaker 3: It was the election tricity and plus the gas, the
Speaker 3: two of them together, Okay, And I know they've worked
Speaker 3: in combination because I have like a heat pump that
Speaker 3: they put in and this heat pump thing is is
Speaker 3: it's all due are Matt same? This not safe program
Speaker 3: is a huge waste of money, taxpayer money. They've been
Speaker 3: at it for years and they go around and they
Speaker 3: these kids say they try to get into a an
Speaker 3: evaluation so called and they they then they put in
Speaker 3: a oh you're going to get this and that they'll
Speaker 3: put in a programmable thermostat like book, do you do?
Speaker 3: What do you need that for? It's only confusing, And
Speaker 3: then they'll give you insulation, baby, and they try to
Speaker 3: push a heat pump and they say, oh, you're going
Speaker 3: to get a free you know, a free replacement. They
Speaker 3: cost you ten thousand dollars to replace an oil burner.
Speaker 3: I know because I had a three family in Dorchester
Speaker 3: and they were all over me for that. And it
Speaker 3: turns out there's no savings at all. It's Matt saying.
Speaker 3: They hire a lot of people to go around and
Speaker 3: I guess it's for the climate crisis, whatever that is.
Speaker 3: And it's a big government waste of money that adds
Speaker 3: a lot of money to the gas bill. And the
Speaker 3: Globe the other day actually admitted that that that was
Speaker 3: the line's share of the increase for people.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll tell you it's a program that everyone pays for.
Speaker 2: And I don't know what your experience has been with it,
Speaker 2: but it's a program that I would suggest people take
Speaker 2: advantage of because many people live in homes that are
Speaker 2: not insulated properly and insulation. You know, I think there's
Speaker 2: I know you're criticizing it, but I think there's a
Speaker 2: benefit to the program. But if people don't take advantage
Speaker 2: of it, they're still paying for it because we all
Speaker 2: pay for it. If you know what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 3: Mhm, it's it's hey, it has it's it's benefits, I guess,
Speaker 3: but I think they're taking advantage of us. And the
Speaker 3: layers that they add in to the government program is
Speaker 3: not is not efficient at all. They're trying to trying
Speaker 3: to say it's for efficiency, and now they're blaming oh,
Speaker 3: the landlord only benefits, not the renter. So they're gonna
Speaker 3: add in a search charge for the landlord and to
Speaker 3: take away money that always so supposedly saved that.
Speaker 2: Way by the way. That Yeah, that to me is ridiculous.
Speaker 2: That aspect of it, if that's true, is ridiculous. What
Speaker 2: do you think about the governor today? She makes a
Speaker 2: speech like she's gonna file legislation. I would simply say
Speaker 2: to the governor, Governor, where have you been? Yeah?
Speaker 3: I think she's she's dishonest.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't think necessarily she's dishonest. I think she's
Speaker 2: caught Her staff has led her down. And you know,
Speaker 2: when the DPU allowed these increases last November, there should
Speaker 2: have been somebody who said to her, Oh, by the way, Governor,
Speaker 2: I think you know, next winter, if it gets a
Speaker 2: little cold around here, and it does tend to get
Speaker 2: cold in the wintertime, you might have some people who
Speaker 2: are upset. But to talk today, well, she has no
Speaker 2: specifics at this speech in front of the Chamber of
Speaker 2: Commerce today. Clearly she's caught off balance here and bad
Speaker 2: staff work and not thinking ahead. It's as simple as that.
Speaker 2: But we're in a one party state. The Republicans weren't
Speaker 2: screaming and yelling about the DPU increases. They should have
Speaker 2: been screaming and yelling. I blame the Republicans too. Maybe
Speaker 2: they're not paying No one pays attention to them.
Speaker 3: It was the cast of gas is excuse me, it
Speaker 3: is high. If it goes up even more, it'll be higher.
Speaker 3: Everybody has to pay their gas. But to add in
Speaker 3: these programs, the government programs, I think, I don't think
Speaker 3: it's it's a benefit to the people whether you get
Speaker 3: insulation or not. It's it's just a phony government program.
Speaker 3: That's it's it's uh, look for enough, Barry.
Speaker 2: We can we can agree to disagree on that. I
Speaker 2: think again, if your house is not insulated, it's going
Speaker 2: to cost you more to heat during the winter time.
Speaker 2: And the program is there and the insulation is not, uh,
Speaker 2: they're they're almost giving the insulation away. There's not a
Speaker 2: lot of uh, there's not a lot of cost associated
Speaker 2: with that. But but I understand the point you're making.
Speaker 2: I just think the program is there to take advantage
Speaker 2: of it. But but I appreciate your perspective. I want
Speaker 2: to see if other people happen to agree with you
Speaker 2: and have the same point of view.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Thank you, Thank you for Paul,
Speaker 3: and have a good time YouTube Berry.
Speaker 2: Talk to you soon, okay. Got one line at six one, seven, two, five,
Speaker 2: four ten thirty and one line at six one seven,
Speaker 2: nine three one ten thirty. What's the problem I mean, eventually,
Speaker 2: it's it has to be the political leadership. I have
Speaker 2: no idea of what is going on in other states,
Speaker 2: and if other states are asleep at the switch, will
Speaker 2: shame on them. If there's another state where things are
Speaker 2: going well and I don't know what it's like in
Speaker 2: New Hampshire. I don't know what it's like in Vermont
Speaker 2: or Man. Obviously cold winter time in New England, prices
Speaker 2: are going up. We're gonna have to pay more. But
Speaker 2: how can the DPU grant ten and thirty percent increases
Speaker 2: and it goes unnoticed by the political leadership they supposed
Speaker 2: to they're supposed to represent us. We'll be back on nightside.
Speaker 2: Got the news at the bottom of the hour. Be
Speaker 2: right back. Let's keep it going.
Speaker 1: You're on Night Side with Dan Ray. I'm WZ Boston's
Speaker 1: news Radio.
Speaker 2: Okay, here we go back to the phones. They're going
Speaker 2: to go to Debbie in Hoper. DEBI welcome, You're next
Speaker 2: on Nightside. Thank you for waiting.
Speaker 5: Thank you. I'm just calling because you're saying a year
Speaker 5: ago these rats were approved. How about three years ago?
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, let me hold on for a second. It
Speaker 2: was this particular rates were approved by the DPU this
Speaker 2: past November, so it's really now four months ago, November, December, January, February.
Speaker 5: Go right ahead, well back two years ago rates were
Speaker 5: approved by the state legislature sixty four percent for national
Speaker 5: grade and forty six percent that ever saw, okay, and
Speaker 5: that since then.
Speaker 2: Yeah, hold on for a second, if I could. It's
Speaker 2: my understanding, uh, And I always leave open the possibility
Speaker 2: that I can be wrong. You know, someone, if I
Speaker 2: say to you the sun's going to rise tomorrow in
Speaker 2: the east, I guess there's a possibility it doesn't rise
Speaker 2: at the east tomorrow. We're ever all out of here.
Speaker 2: But so my understanding is that the legislature has passed
Speaker 2: on this responsibility to the Department of Public Utilities.
Speaker 5: And what happened, Well, they're the ones that got us
Speaker 5: in this mess, and they should them and I had
Speaker 5: put I had gotten.
Speaker 2: Can I just finish this explanation if I can, and again,
Speaker 2: I'll be happy to give you your you know, your
Speaker 2: your commentary. I want to go to say. What happens
Speaker 2: is the utilities will file every year with the Department
Speaker 2: of Public Utilities a proposal they want to increase their
Speaker 2: rates by X and then they have hearings and testimonies,
Speaker 2: and generally it takes place in the summer and fall,
Speaker 2: and generally sometime in the middle of the fall, the
Speaker 2: Department of Public Utilities will say, Okay, you can increase
Speaker 2: this rate five percent or whatever. And the reason that
Speaker 2: the legislature does that is they don't want to be
Speaker 2: in the position of the legislature having to vote and
Speaker 2: say we're going to raise Debbie's rates. Now, if there
Speaker 2: was something that I missed, and if you're telling me
Speaker 2: that the legislature raised rates sixty four percent, miss Debbie,
Speaker 2: when did that happen? And what source are you citing
Speaker 2: for me?
Speaker 5: Oh, it was in one of the news articles. I
Speaker 5: have a cotton paste it. I'll send it to you
Speaker 5: if you give me the email address. But they had
Speaker 5: raised the rate, and then the following year, both utility
Speaker 5: companies came back and said, oh, National Grid's going to
Speaker 5: lower their rates to forty six percent. And I forget
Speaker 5: whatever source it was left.
Speaker 2: Do me a favor, Okay, why don't you if you
Speaker 2: can find those that newspaper article easily tonight, Rob will
Speaker 2: give you my email address and you can send that
Speaker 2: to me and you can just if you give me.
Speaker 2: You don't even have to, you know, scan and send
Speaker 2: the newspaper article. But to the best of my knowledge,
Speaker 2: and I follow this stuff fairly closely, the legislature has
Speaker 2: insulated themselves against having to raise the rates. So that's
Speaker 2: why you have the Department of Utilities who does the
Speaker 2: dirty work. But if you want to just send me
Speaker 2: the if you want to, just send me the date
Speaker 2: of the article and say that Dan, there was a
Speaker 2: story that I've read on you know, November tenth, two
Speaker 2: thousand and twenty four or November fifth, twenty and twenty two.
Speaker 2: I'll find it and i'll read it, and if you're correct,
Speaker 2: and if I'm incorrect, I'll apologize over the ear. But mindustanding,
Speaker 2: I don't want.
Speaker 5: You to apologize, and I'm just upset. I've been upset
Speaker 5: since the day I read that those articles. It wasn't
Speaker 5: just one article, it was on the news. It was
Speaker 5: all speculation oil was going to hit eighty dollars a barrel.
Speaker 5: So I was like, oh, wait, I know a little
Speaker 5: bit about this stuff, So just beer with me for
Speaker 5: a second right now.
Speaker 2: Oil is about seventy dollars a barrel. Oil nine Yeah, Okay,
Speaker 2: oil at one point was up to one hundred and
Speaker 2: fifty dollars a barrow, So we're going up to eighty
Speaker 2: dollars a barrow would be an increase, but it would
Speaker 2: be nothing. We oil got close to one hundred and fifty.
Speaker 5: Dollars and that's zero during COVID.
Speaker 2: Well, it didn't, it really got. It got very low
Speaker 2: because obviously there was there was no gasoline, and the
Speaker 2: cars weren't moving around. People were we were adapting, adapting
Speaker 2: your your correct to this new lifestyle. Send me the article,
Speaker 2: send me the dates, and we'll we'll talk about it. Okay,
Speaker 2: okay on line well, no, find the article?
Speaker 5: Fine, No, I mean waiting for Rob.
Speaker 2: No. Rob will cut pick you up as soon as
Speaker 2: as soon as I say good evening, I'll say okay
Speaker 2: to you and then leave your number with Rob and
Speaker 2: I'll call you back and I'll say, gee, you were right,
Speaker 2: you have you sent me this article. We'll talk about
Speaker 2: it tomorrow night.
Speaker 5: Fair enough, Thank you.
Speaker 2: Hang on, don't hang up. Rob will take care of that.
Speaker 2: We're going to go next to If you're trying to
Speaker 2: get in the lines at six one seven, two, five
Speaker 2: ten thirty A full dial six one seven nine, three, one,
Speaker 2: ten thirty. Let me go to Tom and Lynn. Tom,
Speaker 2: you're next to the nightside.
Speaker 6: Welcome Dan, not really off topic, I asked Brooksy. He says, yeah,
Speaker 6: go ahead. I got my excise tax still last week, right.
Speaker 6: I got a nineteen ninety nine Infinity twenty four to
Speaker 6: twenty five years old. I says to my neighbors Sue,
Speaker 6: what do you think my excise tax bill was? She says,
Speaker 6: I don't know. Twenty bucks? I asked my mechanic. The
Speaker 6: guy from whom I bought the carriage is Ronnie. What
Speaker 6: do you think my excise sax bill was? He says
Speaker 6: not ten bucks, Dan, seventy two dollars. Okay, it's as
Speaker 6: you said, the taxation policy in the state only when
Speaker 6: you're moving, or only when you're not moving.
Speaker 2: I can have when you do the way when okay, Tom,
Speaker 2: let me let me hold you down for a second. Okay,
Speaker 2: as long as you own a vehicle in Massachusetts and
Speaker 2: it has a value, whether it's a couple of thousand
Speaker 2: dollars or five thousand dollars, what's your vehicle? What you
Speaker 2: said it's a what did you say it was a Mercedes?
Speaker 6: No, God, Infinity Infinity.
Speaker 2: Okay, what do you think it's if you credit in, say,
Speaker 2: what do you think it's value?
Speaker 6: Is not even one thousand bucks? It's it's twenty five
Speaker 6: years old.
Speaker 2: Okay, well, I don't know. I'm not a car tom.
Speaker 2: I am not a car expert. Okay, I'm not a
Speaker 2: car expert. So there are some people who will say
Speaker 2: that particular brand. If Scott and Larry were here, they
Speaker 2: could pick a number out and they could say that Infinity,
Speaker 2: what sort of shapes it mean? They could they could
Speaker 2: tell you, I have a a very old Vovo. I
Speaker 2: drive a Vovo, which is I think it was twenty thirteen,
Speaker 2: not as old as your car. But you know they
Speaker 2: are always going to tax you a little bit. So
Speaker 2: I think that the seventy two dollars charge are for
Speaker 2: your excise tax probably is more than you than it's
Speaker 2: would be, but it will never get to zero as
Speaker 2: long as you have it registered. Okay, tonight we're talking
Speaker 2: about electric prices, gas prices.
Speaker 6: I know, I'm so mad.
Speaker 4: I'm just so mad.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, do me a favorite. It's not worth it.
Speaker 2: Go check your electric bill. Do you own your home?
Speaker 6: No, I live in housing. I don't pay electric or
Speaker 6: any utilities. I'm elderly for one thing, which I have.
Speaker 2: We all get elderly. I'm elderly too. How who pays
Speaker 2: your gas and electric?
Speaker 6: City?
Speaker 2: So you're in in City of Lynn housing?
Speaker 4: Yes, okay?
Speaker 2: What do you pay a month for rent? And you're renting.
Speaker 6: But thousand dollars okay, thousand.
Speaker 2: Dollars a month okay, and you pay no electric in that,
Speaker 2: So that thousand dollars a month by the city, pronounce
Speaker 2: your electric and gas.
Speaker 4: Yep, you're pretty lucky.
Speaker 6: I was looking at a go ahead.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm saying you're pretty lucky to happen.
Speaker 5: And I know I.
Speaker 2: Would focus from a mental health point of view. I
Speaker 2: would truly focus on the winter time. If you were
Speaker 2: living in an apartment that was, you know, a private apartment,
Speaker 2: you probably would be paying. So so count count your
Speaker 2: blessings in that regard. And some night we'll do something
Speaker 2: on excise taxes and we'll give you a chance.
Speaker 6: To I was looking at real estate yesterday. There's a
Speaker 6: free paper from Saugust. The cheapest apartment I saw one
Speaker 6: bedroom in West Lynne eighteen hundred dollars a month.
Speaker 2: Okay, And does that include rent? Does that include gas
Speaker 2: and electric probably.
Speaker 6: Not no, no, and then it goes up from there.
Speaker 6: You get the damage.
Speaker 2: Mine foot. Tom. Tonight, before you go to bed, get
Speaker 2: on your knees and thank the taxpayers of Massachusetts that
Speaker 2: you're living for one thousand dollars a month. I hope
Speaker 2: it's a nice apartment. I suspect it probably is a
Speaker 2: nice apartment. You should, you should say that the taxpayers
Speaker 2: of Massachusetts who are subsidizing that. Thanks and we will, we'll,
Speaker 2: we'll go to battle for you on the excise tax
Speaker 2: another night. Thanks thanks to being I.
Speaker 6: I was in a service.
Speaker 2: A lot of us were.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean my mind that business about, you know,
Speaker 6: thank the taxpayers. Hey, I did my I did my
Speaker 6: four years.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: I understand that, Tom, and I'm not and thank you
Speaker 2: for that service. But what I'm saying to you is
Speaker 2: you are blessed to be in a situation where it's
Speaker 2: costing you one thousand dollars a month and you're not
Speaker 2: paying electricity and gas rates. Right now, That's all I'm
Speaker 2: trying to say to you. Be thankful for what you
Speaker 2: have and and don't don't have a heart attack because
Speaker 2: you're paying seventy two dollars in an excise tax. I'm
Speaker 2: trying to give you some advice that I think is
Speaker 2: going to be good for your mental health. I don't
Speaker 2: want to use a listener or a call er either. Okay,
Speaker 2: Thanks Tom, talk to you soon. Good night. We'll take
Speaker 2: a break, coming right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1: Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Speaker 1: Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio and skip Rowler.
Speaker 2: You're going to go to Joe and Medford. Joe, appreciate
Speaker 2: your patience. Next on Nightside, go right ahead, Joe.
Speaker 4: Hello. Yes, I'm a former employee of National Grid. Okay,
Speaker 4: and some people may be interested to know that, at
Speaker 4: least for the white collar employees, they're entitled to bonuses.
Speaker 4: And I'm talking about tens and multiple tens of thousands
Speaker 4: of dollars per employee.
Speaker 2: Okay, I assume you were not a white white collar employee.
Speaker 4: No, I am, Well you are, so.
Speaker 2: How much would you get?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 2: You were still you said you are currently an employee
Speaker 2: or reform employee, former former? Okay, when did you leave
Speaker 2: National Grid?
Speaker 4: Year ago?
Speaker 2: Year ago? And how long? How many years had you
Speaker 2: put in with them?
Speaker 4: M I'd say six six?
Speaker 2: Okay? Uh? And you were a white collar employee. Did
Speaker 2: you get bonuses?
Speaker 4: Yep? Okay?
Speaker 2: Did you leave the Why that sounds like a pretty
Speaker 2: good gig. Why'd you leave the company?
Speaker 4: M tough place to work?
Speaker 2: Tough place to work, meaning they were, uh demanding of
Speaker 2: your time and all of that. Or what you're a
Speaker 2: white collar right?
Speaker 4: Yeah, pressure cooker job?
Speaker 2: Okay, what are you doing now? If I could ask.
Speaker 4: Consultant?
Speaker 2: Whenever people tell me they were a consultant, what type
Speaker 2: of consulting do you do? That's kind of a big
Speaker 2: umbrella term. I never quite understand that.
Speaker 4: Uh, software development.
Speaker 2: Okay, you're doing well, I hope, yeah, pretty good. Better
Speaker 2: than National Grid.
Speaker 4: I wouldn't say that another thing people would be interested in.
Speaker 4: Did you know that couple of years ago they gave
Speaker 4: a dividend to at least the white collar employees of
Speaker 4: hundreds of dollars to help defray the increase and utility bills.
Speaker 2: No, I didn't know that. But again, it sounds to
Speaker 2: me like you were working for a great company and
Speaker 2: you left voluntarily or did you Did you leave involuntarily?
Speaker 4: Voluntarily?
Speaker 2: Voluntarily and it was just the stress of the job.
Speaker 2: What did you do that was so stressful there.
Speaker 4: Software?
Speaker 2: What do you mean software? I know what software is.
Speaker 2: What did you what did? What were your duties? What
Speaker 2: did you have to do? I mean, I gotta I
Speaker 2: got to put a radio show on four hours a night,
Speaker 2: five nights a week, okay, And I spent about eight
Speaker 2: hours a day preparing for my show. A lot of time,
Speaker 2: to be honest with you, And and I'm doing my
Speaker 2: show in front of tens of thousands of people every night,
Speaker 2: and there's a lot of pressure, but I enjoy it.
Speaker 2: It sounds to me like you had a great gig
Speaker 2: and you left it. I can't of imagine what sort
Speaker 2: of pressure would have run you out the door. But
Speaker 2: that's okay. You found you found a better job or
Speaker 2: a job that's less stressful, and I hope you're doing
Speaker 2: well with it.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Thanks so many hours.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I said life can be tough. Life can be tough, Joe,
Speaker 2: As simple as that. Hey, Joe, I got to get
Speaker 2: one more. Appreciate you, Carl, Thank you much. Let me
Speaker 2: go to Jack in Somerset. Jack going to get you
Speaker 2: in here under the wire before the ten o'clock news.
Speaker 7: Go right ahead, okay, Dan, just a quick thought. I'm
Speaker 7: an attorney. I've practiced for forty three years. I just
Speaker 7: want to talk about the gentleman who was concerned about
Speaker 7: his excise taxes. I was also I was also an
Speaker 7: assessor for fourteen years. And of the chapter fifty on
Speaker 7: the chapter fifty nine, excise taxes are not determined by
Speaker 7: the current value of the vehicle. It's determined by the
Speaker 7: manufacturers suggestive retail pride. So that's why that gentleman's tax
Speaker 7: might be a lot higher than he thinks it is.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, So what you're saying is when he if
Speaker 2: he bought the when the car was the manufacturer's really
Speaker 2: uh suggested recently.
Speaker 7: Manufacturers would be retail predate.
Speaker 2: When the pres when the car was purchased, Oh.
Speaker 7: You know, when the car was first when the manufacturer
Speaker 7: put the car on the market. And then each year
Speaker 7: it does go down by a percentage. I haven't been
Speaker 7: an assessin now for about more than fifteen years, but
Speaker 7: I was one for fourteen years, and I'm driving it.
Speaker 7: I don't have the shot in front of me, but
Speaker 7: the excise tax is not going to be he can
Speaker 7: he can go to anybody who wants to determine what
Speaker 7: the current value is it's not going to change his
Speaker 7: exercise taxes.
Speaker 2: Well, he's he's.
Speaker 4: Paying, he's paying.
Speaker 2: He's paying seventy two dollars for ex dice tax. And
Speaker 2: again he said, I forget the type car. I guess
Speaker 2: it was. Whatever the type car it was.
Speaker 4: That he it was an idea.
Speaker 7: I think he said it was a nineteen ninety nine Infinity.
Speaker 2: Yes he did, Yes he did, So that would been,
Speaker 2: I guess, considered a pretty good car when it was new.
Speaker 7: He's probably paying an excise tax on of value. And
Speaker 7: again i'm driving, I don't have a shot in front
Speaker 7: of me, and I haven't been an assessor for quite
Speaker 7: a few years, but I was one for fourteen years.
Speaker 7: I think it's going to be twenty percent of what
Speaker 7: the manufacturers suggested retail price was on the car. That
Speaker 7: will determine the current value, and that's how his excise
Speaker 7: tax is calculated.
Speaker 2: So, for example, hypothetically the car was forty thousand dollars
Speaker 2: when it was first bought, you know, out of the showroom.
Speaker 2: And if you're saying, they assume it's every year it
Speaker 2: goes down a little bit. Look, I have a Vovo,
Speaker 2: I have a twenty thirteen Vovo, and.
Speaker 7: I think I've been paying the same excise tax for
Speaker 7: the last five or ten years.
Speaker 2: It's pretty well. It's it's twenty thirteen. I've only owned
Speaker 2: it eleven years, so it seems to have.
Speaker 7: Stayed no matter how long you've owned it. It matter
Speaker 7: is what year it was precast, I mean manufacturer I bought.
Speaker 2: Yeah, again, Jack, appreciate it. I think we're saying the
Speaker 2: same thing. I bought it new, and obviously the first
Speaker 2: year out of the box, the excise tax hitching between
Speaker 2: the eyes, and then it does go down and it
Speaker 2: seems to have stabilize. So I'm at about eighty eight bucks. Uh.
Speaker 2: And I think that's been the same, uh, which gives
Speaker 2: credit to what your what your your credibility, what you're saying.
Speaker 7: I appreciate it's it's mass chapter fifty nine.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll be sure to look down one up tomorrow. Thanks. Jack,
Speaker 2: appreciate you calling very much to thank you much. I
Speaker 2: hope that makes tom feel a little bit better. We're
Speaker 2: going to take a break here. Thanks. Uh. If you're
Speaker 2: on the line, stay there. If you're not, I would
Speaker 2: like to get back to the question of your electric bill,
Speaker 2: your gas bill, uh, and how upset are you? And
Speaker 2: who who who should be blamed for this? I look
Speaker 2: at the politicians on Beacon Hill as the first suspects.
Speaker 2: We've had some folks who have been pretty opinion here,
Speaker 2: but feel free to join the conversation, opinionated or otherwise
Speaker 2: six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty and six
Speaker 2: one seven nine three one ten thirty coming right back
Speaker 2: after nights after this