The Fresno Bee du lieu suivant : Fresno, California • A7

WEDNESDAY A7 THE FRESNO BEE-SOUTHTHE FRESNO BEE SOUTH 7 Logical Page is THE FRESNO 22:50 By Paula Lloyd The Fresno Bee When officials of the Big Fresno Fair began planning the 2009 fair, they decided this was not the year to get greedy. A county fair needs to turn a profit, but with many people out of work, struggling to put food on the table and make ends meet, paying as much as $8 per person for a fair ticket could put them out of reach. To make the fair more af- fordable, the fair organization on its own or with corporate sponsors offered free days for seniors citizens, for chil- dren 5 to 12 and for people who donated to a wildly successful, first-ever food drive. There were also discount days like $2 Tuesday and $3 Wednesday. going to hurt us in the bot- tom line no doubt said John Alkire, chief executive officer of the Big Fresno Fair.

I told my board, this is the year to show compassion, to show we care for our fellow Unofficial attendance num- bers show that the Big Fresno strategy was on target. Some 514,030 people came through the gates this year an increase of 2.68% over 2008. But while attendance was up, food sellers and other con- cessionaires made less than the previous year, which Alkire blames on the storm that pelted Fresno with 1.28 inches of rain on Oct. 13. Only 3,000 people attended the fair that day.

And the in- field parking area which also serves as a ponding basin filled with water. lost parking for Alkire said. The cancellation of the Oct. 13 concert by Christian singer Michael W. Smith cost the fair $50,000, Alkire said.

The contract with per- formers says if they are at the fairgrounds and ready to per- form as Smith was they will be paid for a canceled con- cert. But people who stayed home on Oct. 13 boosted attendance during the remaining five days, Alkire said. was he said. The rainy Tuesday may also have caused more people to come two days later, when peo- ple bringing at least three cans for the food drive got in free.

More than 28 tons of food were collected for the Community Food Bank and The Salvation Army, Alkire said. The food drive could be re- peated next year, he said, if the need is still there: forget our The reporter can be reached at or at (559) 441-6756. Fresno Fair sees rise in attendance Organizers made the event more affordable because of economy. said almost 2 million of the new meters have been installed so far in the service area. A main selling point is their ability to send readings back to the utility automatically, eliminating the need for employees to read them.

Eventually, Smith said, homeowners could also employ them to manage their own electrical usage better. As to the accuracy issue, Smith said each meter is tested at the factory, sometimes twice, and itself tests upon their delivery. Because of the accuracy questions, the utility has also checked 1,700 meters at individual homes in its service area, Smith said. have test- ed a lot of these meters and thus far we have not found any is Smith said. Tell that to Don Vercellini, who opened his bill in shock after his new meter was installed this summer.

typical bill for us was $300 to $500, in that he said. they installed the and our very first bill was Vercellini said he has worked out a pay- ment plan with for that $1,000 bill. In the meantime, he said, his bills have dropped back to the prior level without any obvious change in his usage. But he still expects to testify at hearing. In response to a previous Florez hearing in Bakersfield as well as other letters and complaints, the state Public Utilities Com- mission announced last week that it would require testing of the new meters by an inde- pendent expert chosen by the staff.

But the commission also said the new rates were a likely factor. Customers pay low rates for a minimal amount of power, then progres- sively higher rates as their use rises through a series of pricing tiers. Smith said the March increases were higher for the higher tiers. In the highest tier, he said, rates rose about from 36 cents to 44 cents per kilo- watt hour. Similar are being in- stalled to measure gas consumption, but Flo- rez said his of fice has received no com- plaints about them to date.

hearing will include and commission officials, along with consumer advocates and aggrieved ratepayers. It be- gins at 6:30 p.m. in Assembly Room 1036 of the Hugh Burns State Building, 2550 Mari- posa Mall, Fresno. The reporter can be reached at or (559) 441-6371. METER Continued from A1 MORE ONLINE To see more photos from the cleanup, go to fblinks.com/ fairend.

Big Fresno Fair by the numbers Some facts and figures from the 12-day run. 60 lambs born 63 animals adopted at SPCA booth 100 gallons of soap used at hand-wash stations 128 chicks hatched 155 homemade quilts displayed 500 children tried Mutton 558 animals sold at auction 1,000 pounds of sugar used for cotton candy 18,000 pounds of corn dogs consumed PHOTOS BY MARK FRESNO BEE From left, Ramon Quintero and Humberto Mendoza carry the sign for the corndog conces- sion they were breaking down Monday, the day after the Big Fresno Fair closed. Joanna Renteria, left, and Irma Hernandez were among the workers in the livestock barns Monday who were cleaning out the stables where the animals were kept during the Big Fresno Fair. In all, 514,030 people came through the gates this year. Questions? customers who have questions about their bills or other issues can visit an at the Fresno Holiday Inn Airport through Friday.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. They can also call the utility at (800) 743-5000. HOW CAN YOU HELP PROVIDE 10 MILLION MEALS FOR ONLY visit www.macys.com/cometogether S200905469 Watch weekdays at 7AM to see how your donations are helping those in need. fresnobee.com the fresno bee LOCAL wednesday, october 21, 2009 page A7.