Wings asking city to intervene

HARLINGEN - The WhiteWings organization wants the city to intervene in a dispute with its electric provider because the team believes it has been overcharged, a team official said.

But the city won't budge on what it said the team owes.

United League Baseball, an independent league, is disputing about $40,000 of $100,000 that the city said is owed for the team's use of Harlingen Field.

Gary Wendt, United League Baseball principal, said Thursday that after reviewing the electric charges for Harlingen Field, the information he discovered was "alarming and incredulous."

In a previous interview, City Assistant Manager Gabriel Gonzalez said the city is awaiting payment from the WhiteWings for about $100,000 that includes rent and utilities at Harlingen Field.

Wendt said Thursday that the AEP bills show that his organization is being charged every month for 80 percent of the total of the highest monthly use.

Wendt said an AEP representative, Rita Parish, explained this formula to him, but Parish and an AEP spokesman were not available for comment Thursday.

Wendt said the 2008 season ran from May 14 to Aug. 17 and $4,000 electric bills for those months are not uncommon.

Wendt said the highest bill during those months was about $4,700.

But he said that during the off-season, when only the business offices at the field use electricity, the team is being charged 80 percent electric usage power, based on the highest percentage usage month, even if the usage is really only 3 percent to 5 percent.

"Even if we just had a nightlight on we're being charged 80 percent usage," Wendt said. "We are getting bills for (off-season months) for $4,000 when they should be $150.

"Even if you're not using (electricity), they're still charging you for it," Wendt said. "If that's the case, why would anyone care about energy conservation. We operate other ball parks and I've never seen this before."

"We're billed on a monthly (usage) basis at other fields," Wendt said.

But Gonzalez said Thursday that the electric usage at Harlingen Field is charged by kilowatt-hour not by a percentage of usage.

Gonzalez said the WhiteWings organization is being charged for whatever electricity they are using.

"They've been out there for three years and they've never had an issue with the (electric) invoices," Gonzalez said. "We get billed per kilowatt hour and that's exactly what I told (Wendt). I don't know what (other billing system) he's talking about."

Gonzalez also said that Wendt said he would provide information about the disputed charges, but no such data has been turned in to the city.

"The bill is still owed and that's the bottom line," Gonzalez said.

The city pays for the first $14,000 of the organization's annual utility bill, Gonzalez said.

Wendt said that when the team agreed to lease Harlingen Field with the city paying $14,000 of the annual utility bill, he thought that would likely mean the utility bill was 90 percent covered.

Wendt said $14,000 is within the average range for the utility bills that league teams pay at other baseball fields.

"This is not what I signed up for," Wendt said. "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine we'd have a $40,000 electric bill."

Gonzalez said the city is awaiting a partial payment by next week.