Electric Rate Increase Proposed

 

Electric Rate Increase Proposed

By Mike Scott

Get ready for another round of electric rate increases.

At a special meeting of the Kahoka Board of Aldermen held on Monday, July 21, the board heard a rate increase proposal from John Williams, Kahoka’s Electrical Generation supervisor.

“We have to put something in place right now. There’s really no other way around this,” William said.

That “something” is an approximately 12 percent rate increase. Residential customers, who now pay seven cents per kilowatt hour, may pay eight cents starting in September. Commercial and industrial customer will see similar increases.
And that rate will likely increase again after the start of 2008. That amounts to about $12 more per month for the average Kahoka residence. The board last raised rates in November, 2007, and before that, rates had been steady since the 1980’s

What’s a kilowatt hour? That’s 1000 watts of electricity used in an hour, such as using ten 100-watt light bulbs for an hour. The average household in Kahoka uses 1300 kilowatt hours per month.

The board has scheduled a public hearing on electrical rates for Monday, August 11, at 6:30 PM.

In other business, the board:
–Discussed Kevin Eagle helping the City of Wayland with water tests until they get a licensed operator.
–Discussed air conditioning repairs needed in the old city hall building.
–Discussed upcoming DNR requirements changes in city testing of water and wastewater.