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Published March 25, 2008 08:50 pm - It was a chilly winter for Seneca resident Ray Alexander. At 86 years old, Alexander pulled out his electric heater and stopped using propane. Area residents feel pinch of utility prices By Melissa Dunson
mdunson@joplinglobe.com It was a chilly winter for Seneca resident Ray Alexander. At 86 years old, Alexander pulled out his electric heater and stopped using propane. He said he couldn’t afford it on his Social Security income. Instead, he put in a small, wood-fired heater. It costs him $400 to heat his home for the winter now, but the heat doesn’t cover the whole house. He has made up his mind that this summer, he will plant a garden to try to supplement his meager grocery budget, and will run his air conditioner only from 4 p.m. until he goes to bed. When Alexander’s other monthly bills went up, he quit driving. He doesn’t go to the doctor anymore. Instead, he relies on herbs and luck to keep from getting sick. He said he can hardly remember what a good steak tastes like. “I never dreamt things would be like this,” Alexander said. “Everything has just gone downhill. Who can afford this anymore? I can’t afford nothing anymore.” Raymond Smith, a retired social worker living in Goodman, turns his heat off at night. As a Vietnam War veteran, he is entitled to help from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, but he said he never took it until recently. With his utility bills rising, he said he can’t afford his medications anymore. “People do need to conserve more, but the money has got to come from someplace, and I don’t know where that is,” Smith said. “I’m cutting back constantly, but there are certain things you just can’t cut.” Chad DeGonia, 28, Joplin, is young, educated and has a job in the growing health-care field. He recently took a second job picking up bodies in the middle of the night for Parker Mortuary. A big motivation for him was a free room above the mortuary with all the utilities paid. “It was definitely one of the pluses of this job,” DeGonia said. “Fortunately, now I don’t have to pay for my utilities, but it’s gotten ridiculous. It’s pinching everybody’s pickets.” All three men are examples of the wide effect rising energy and utility costs are having on local residents. In the past year, the total cost for water, natural gas and electricity in the Joplin area has gone up substantially. And more rate hikes could be on the way. Water Missouri American Water Co.’s Joplin customers saw a 64 percent rate increase in October 2007. The average residential customer using 5,700 gallons a month was paying $16.29 a month. That cost is now $26.70. 
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