Re: “Utility rates need context” [Letters, July 9]: You published a letter from Southern California Edison attempting to explain that electricity rates are not really that high. They stated that the average monthly bill for California residential customers was $94.59 for 557 kilowatt hours and the weighted average rate was 15.7 cents per kilowatt hour. I urge your readers to check their own bills to see just how false this must be. My bill last month for 638 kilowatt hours was $191.88! And my weighted average rate was 30 cents per kilowatt hour! Both numbers are roughly double what SCE claims. And with my bill came a notice congratulating me on my conservation efforts and informing me that I’m using 30 percent less electricity than my neighbors.
— Dennis Alekel, San Juan Capistrano
Protect American workers
It was refreshing to read “Protect living standards for construction workers” [Opinion, July 6]. As the daughter, wife, mother and grandmother of union construction workers, I commend Robbie Hunter’s article about the Davis-Bacon Act and project labor agreements.
The country needs the middle class to earn a decent wage so they can afford to buy homes, new appliances, cars, etc. as well as hire professionals. How does the economy improve if workers can only afford to shop at garage sales or thrift stores?
Hire Americans. The money earned by Americans will stay in the country. The United States is home to 19 percent of the world’s migrants. They sent $133.5 billion in remittances in 2015. The biggest recipients were: Mexico, $24.3 billion; China, $16.2 billion; and India, $10 billion (World Economic Forum). The Bank of Mexico reported remittances to Mexico from the U.S. hit a record $27 billion in 2016.
— Patricia Shuff, Fullerton
Hunger in America
What initially struck me in the article, “Fighting hunger” [News, July 7] was the photo above it. There certainly is a striking contrast between what we call the “hungry” in this country as opposed to the “hungry” in Africa and other places where the poor folks look boney, skeletal and on the verge of death. The people in the photo certainly do not look starving. They may be malnourished because of improper nutrition or choices, some even appear overweight, but they are far from the deathly look of the truly starving of other countries.
— Milt Rouse, Dana Point