I know a sales pitch when I hear one. There are clear indicators.
- A sales pitch focuses on the positives, which are typically exaggerated. Think of “snake oil.”
- Negatives are minimized and, typically, eliminated. Think of “do not pay attention to that man behind the curtain.”
- Anyone asking common sense questions in an effort to make a fact-based evaluation is either circled back to the positives, where the negatives are minimized, or, if persistent, they are deterred, demeaned and dismissed.
Then again, the Community Energy Aggregation process was never intended to be a fair analysis. It was only intended to be persuasive. The result was always a forgone conclusion at the outset. Why else would Township Committee Member Kevin Kuchinski say in an e-mail to Concord Energy Representative Staci Scaduto, Acting Administrator Elaine Borges and then-candidate for Township Committee Courtney Peters-Manning on Oct. 28, 2019: “We plan to introduce (Energy Aggregation) in November (2019).”
After attending all four public Community Energy Aggregation sessions, I have reached the inescapable conclusion that the township never intended to give the public anything more than a sales pitch.
By the way, I would have attended the private presentations that the township gave to the Four Seasons and Wellington Manor Homeowner Associations in September 2019, but they were intentionally hidden from public view. Perhaps, those two presentations were only intended to influence critical voters without stirring up a hornet’s nest of public scrutiny prior to the Township Committee election in November 2019.
Now that the window dressing of public relations is out of the way, the township can get to the business of slamming 6,000 residences into Energy Aggregation. And slam they will. The ordinance was introduced at the Regular Committee meeting on Feb. 3 and will be approved on Feb. 18.
Harvey Lester
Titusville
