Ponce
22nd July 2011, 05:04 PM
" A cool prisoner is a calm prisoner"........I say this because a prison guard told me that when they are cold they ALWAYS fight less.......even with the guards.
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.Bucks backs off on power cutback
An energy program that could save Bucks County taxpayers $250,000 by cutting off air conditioning for three hours in some facilities on hot summer days is under review after complaints from workers.
Commissioners agreed Wednesday night that the air conditioning will not be turned off from 3 to 6 p.m. today as planned.
“I think employees deserve the basic standards, to know that they’re going to be working in a safe and healthy environment,” said Linda Vuono, president of AFSCME local 1598. “And I don’t think that some of them are.”
Vuono said she’s received “numerous e-mails and phone calls” from AFSCME members who said they’ve gotten sick while at work after the air conditioning was shut off.
“Please reconsider this,” she said.
The county has been trying what Chief Operating Officer Brian Hessenthaler called a “power curtailment program” in which it cuts off air conditioning late in the afternoon on select days to shrink its peak load capacity.
A number of factors go into the complicated process of energy pricing. One involves the amount of power an entity would need from the power grid. The less power needed during peak times should translate to a lower cost.
Shutting down the air conditioning for three hours on the five hottest days of the summer would put the county in better standing in contract negotiations with an energy supplier.
But knowing what those days are can make it tricky. So far this summer, the county has shut off the air on six days, including Monday and Tuesday. Hessenthaler planned to do so again today and Friday when temperatures are expected to hit 100 degrees. The commissioners did not indicate at Wednesday’s meeting what they would do on Friday.
But if August is filled with a similar heat wave, the discomfort in July was for naught.
“We have opted to go down this road to try to save taxpayers money,” Hessenthaler said Wednesday night at the commissioners meeting on the grounds of Fonthill in Doylestown, where fans and a tent did not exactly keep the audience of about 60 people cool. “We’re asking people to make a shared sacrifice. A lot of people do work in hot weather. We’re hoping we can work through this to get a savings for the taxpayer.”
Commissioner Diane Marseglia pushed the board to reconsider the power curtailment, asking if “we’re going to have to continue to play this turn the air conditioner game off.” She said she could find $250,000 “we can save on other things we’re doing.”
That drew a burst of applause from several employees in the back rows.
Marseglia said her main concern was for corrections officers who could be in greater danger when dealing with uncomfortable inmates.
Hessenthaler said he was told the hottest part of Bucks County Prison was “80.1 degrees.”
Laura Tosti, a clerk in the sheriff’s office, said at 4 p.m. Tuesday the temperature was 85 degrees and “unbearable.”
Especially, she said, for deputies who wear bulletproof vests and polyester uniforms.
Marseglia told Hessenthaler she understood the cost-saving measure but said this idea “just might not work for us.”
Commissioner Rob Loughery said “we need to take a look at it.”
Charley Martin, the commissioners chairman, wasn’t convinced. “I don’t think it’s quite as dramatic as you’re making it out to be,” he said.
Of suggestions to not do the curtailment in the prison or on the hottest days, he said “you’re not going to get the revenue to help the taxpayers if you’re not.You might as well not do it at all. The decision should be to do the program or don’t do the program.”
Vuono recommended adjusting employees’ schedules or sending them home at 3 p.m. on days the air is shut off.
Hessenthaler said he didn’t know if that could be done under the current union contract.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times_news/bucks-backs-off-on-power-cutback/article_ffbf8a1b-c24f-500d-8720-32973aa0b6fd.html
===============================================
.Bucks backs off on power cutback
An energy program that could save Bucks County taxpayers $250,000 by cutting off air conditioning for three hours in some facilities on hot summer days is under review after complaints from workers.
Commissioners agreed Wednesday night that the air conditioning will not be turned off from 3 to 6 p.m. today as planned.
“I think employees deserve the basic standards, to know that they’re going to be working in a safe and healthy environment,” said Linda Vuono, president of AFSCME local 1598. “And I don’t think that some of them are.”
Vuono said she’s received “numerous e-mails and phone calls” from AFSCME members who said they’ve gotten sick while at work after the air conditioning was shut off.
“Please reconsider this,” she said.
The county has been trying what Chief Operating Officer Brian Hessenthaler called a “power curtailment program” in which it cuts off air conditioning late in the afternoon on select days to shrink its peak load capacity.
A number of factors go into the complicated process of energy pricing. One involves the amount of power an entity would need from the power grid. The less power needed during peak times should translate to a lower cost.
Shutting down the air conditioning for three hours on the five hottest days of the summer would put the county in better standing in contract negotiations with an energy supplier.
But knowing what those days are can make it tricky. So far this summer, the county has shut off the air on six days, including Monday and Tuesday. Hessenthaler planned to do so again today and Friday when temperatures are expected to hit 100 degrees. The commissioners did not indicate at Wednesday’s meeting what they would do on Friday.
But if August is filled with a similar heat wave, the discomfort in July was for naught.
“We have opted to go down this road to try to save taxpayers money,” Hessenthaler said Wednesday night at the commissioners meeting on the grounds of Fonthill in Doylestown, where fans and a tent did not exactly keep the audience of about 60 people cool. “We’re asking people to make a shared sacrifice. A lot of people do work in hot weather. We’re hoping we can work through this to get a savings for the taxpayer.”
Commissioner Diane Marseglia pushed the board to reconsider the power curtailment, asking if “we’re going to have to continue to play this turn the air conditioner game off.” She said she could find $250,000 “we can save on other things we’re doing.”
That drew a burst of applause from several employees in the back rows.
Marseglia said her main concern was for corrections officers who could be in greater danger when dealing with uncomfortable inmates.
Hessenthaler said he was told the hottest part of Bucks County Prison was “80.1 degrees.”
Laura Tosti, a clerk in the sheriff’s office, said at 4 p.m. Tuesday the temperature was 85 degrees and “unbearable.”
Especially, she said, for deputies who wear bulletproof vests and polyester uniforms.
Marseglia told Hessenthaler she understood the cost-saving measure but said this idea “just might not work for us.”
Commissioner Rob Loughery said “we need to take a look at it.”
Charley Martin, the commissioners chairman, wasn’t convinced. “I don’t think it’s quite as dramatic as you’re making it out to be,” he said.
Of suggestions to not do the curtailment in the prison or on the hottest days, he said “you’re not going to get the revenue to help the taxpayers if you’re not.You might as well not do it at all. The decision should be to do the program or don’t do the program.”
Vuono recommended adjusting employees’ schedules or sending them home at 3 p.m. on days the air is shut off.
Hessenthaler said he didn’t know if that could be done under the current union contract.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times_news/bucks-backs-off-on-power-cutback/article_ffbf8a1b-c24f-500d-8720-32973aa0b6fd.html