LMUD customers will see a significant increase in their electricity bills come next month. General manager Pat Holley says natural gas, which generates the majority of the power throughout the state, continues to drive up the purchase power costs for LMUD. Reporting a billing of 2.3 million dollars in January and another 2 million in February, Holley says the utility is on the path to maintaining these extreme billings, greatly impacting LMUD.
The utility is obligated to maintain a specific debt-to-income ratio to fulfill its bond obligations to the Skedaddle project, and Holley told the board of directors LMUD needs to “collect enough money to maintain the bond ratio and collect enough revenue to keep up normal operations and to continue to provide electric services for customers.” It was estimated last month that the increase would be around 7/10th of a cent, yet last evening the board of directors approved the recommended two-and-a-half-cent increase. That raises your rates from 16.5 cents per kilowatt hour to 19 cents. You will see these rates on your next billing cycle for April. LMUD has said each half-cent increase typically means an additional 5 dollars for the average home.
Holley said LMUD is not alone, that neighboring utility districts are also increasing rates, PSREC raising rates by four cents per KWh in February.
Holley offered a bit of hope, saying there is light at the end of the tunnel, that if the state has a good hydropower year, and natural gas prices come down, power costs could begin to improve.
This latest increase marks the fourth since December.
