SPRINGVILLE — The city's power costs have increased drastically this summer, but the electric bills many residents received last week are outrageously higher than they expected.
About 500 of the city's 6,000 residential customers, mostly those living in north Springville, received electric bills for August that are at least four times the normal amount. Many bills for the month exceed $400. Some have a utility bill higher than their rent or house payment.
"When I saw my bill I was just flabbergasted," said Lori Cunningham, whose bill went from $76 last month to $439 this month.
Residents flooded city offices Friday and Monday seeking an explanation, saying there must be a mistake.
City officials say there was a mistake but not one that will reduce the residents' August electric bills back to the amount they were paying a few months ago. The higher than normal bills are the result of two factors — a lazy meter reader and the city's rising cost of purchasing power on the open market.
Those with bills four to six times normal are victims of a meter reader who, for about three months, walked through three of the city's 17 power districts guessing usage when he was supposed to be taking actual readings.
"He wasn't guessing high; unfortunately, he was guessing low," said City Councilman Craig Conover, who oversees the power department.
After discovering the reader's behavior, the city sent out readers to get actual usage readings on the meters. The electricity that had been used during the three months but not billed is reflected on the August bills.
"The citizens used the electricity, they just weren't getting billed for it during those months," said Conover, who himself is one of the residents affected by the low meter estimates.
Residents in the three districts say they should have been notified, either by a phone call or a very discernible letter, that their August bills would be high, reflecting the correct meter readings. Instead of being able to prepare for the high bill, residents were surprised. City officials say they did notify customers in one district when they became aware of the meter reader's actions. At that time, city officials were not aware that two other districts were also affected.
Many who received the huge bills use automatic bank withdrawal to pay their utility bills, and this month's enormous charges have caused all kinds of checking account problems.
"A lot of us live month to month," Cunningham said.
The catch-up bills that some residents received were compounded by a rate increase that impacted all residents. Even though most electric bills did not quadruple, all residents received their highest electric bills ever. Most residential bills increased by about $50 because of a power cost adjustment imposed by the City Council last month.
The city adopted the power cost adjustment, which is added to the normal power rate, to cover the city's rising costs of purchasing and producing power. During heavy-use months, the city buys about 25 percent of its power on the open market. This summer, mainly because of deregulation, power costs on the open market more than tripled.
The power cost adjustment for July, set by the city's actual expenses of producing and buying power, was 1.8 cents per kilowatt hour — which increased most residential users' bills by about $18. In August, the city's power expenses skyrocketed further and the power cost adjustment was 5.3 cents per kilowatt hour.
"People didn't notice the adjustment last month but this month it got their attention," Conover said.
Before implementing the power cost adjustment, the City Council held two public hearings on the issue, but few residents attended. The city also sent out an information letter last month explaining the need for the power cost adjustment. Without the power cost adjustment, the city would have had to pay the added cost of power, about $1 million for the months of July and August, from city coffers — which could have bankrupted the city.
Those residents affected by the lazy meter reader will get some relief from their bills, but not much. Since part of the unbilled electricity was used prior to July when the power cost adjustment went into effect, some adjustment is needed. That could reduce some residents' electric bills by as much as $50.
"We're going to come up with some kind of formula to calculate the electricity used by those customers that is not subject to the power cost adjustment," Conover said.
City officials are confident residents have seen the worst of the power cost adjustment and that it might even be eliminated soon. The city is currently negotiating to buy into another fixed power source, which would eliminate the city's need to buy power on the open market. By next summer, the city will also have three new generators producing power at the Whitehead Power Plant. The city is already buying less power on the open market now that residents have quit using air conditioners.
"It looks like our load is going to go down now that the weather has cooled," Conover said.
The City Council will hold a public meeting Tuesday, Sept. 19, at 7 p.m. to discuss with residents the reasons behind the high power bills. The city, recognizing the budgetary concerns of residents, will likely give those in power districts affected by the lazy meter reader a few months to pay off their high electric bills.
"I hope they give us assurance that I won't get a bill like this again," Cunningham said.
E-mail: jimr@desnews.com