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October 29, 2009

<img src="http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/extra.gif" border=0>Electric users face increases<font color="#ff0000"> w/ energy saving tips</font>

By Debby Woodin

dwoodin@joplinglobe.com

Most area residents will see some kind of increase in utility bills in upcoming months, though mainly in electric bills.

Natural gas rates are the lowest in several winters, though the local gas utility is asking for a raise in its customer charge.

In addition to the request by Empire District Electric Co. for a future 19 percent rate increase to pay for the costs of acquiring an interest in two power plants, Missouri Gas Energy has a pending request to raise rates by $5 a month for the cost of distributing the gas.

Spokesmen for the Carthage Water & Electric Plant and for New-Mac Electric Co-op Inc. could not be reached Thursday to discuss their rates.

Customers of the Grand River Dam Authority in Northeast Oklahoma face a double-digit rate increase Jan. 1. The GRDA board of directors, at a meeting Oct. 14, set a rate that will increase bills about 10 percent a month. The GRDA did not cite how much that cost would be in dollars on the average bill.

Though the GRDA, a self-supporting state agency that sells electricity in 24 counties instead of charging taxes, does not have to earn a profit, the board agreed that it had to raise prices to meet debt payments that will be retired in 2014, in addition to meeting increased costs. The GRDA board agreed that the increase could be reduced if costs went down or when the debt is paid off in May 2014.

Natural gas costs

Jason Fulp, a spokesman for MGE, said Thursday that if granted by the Missouri Public Service Commission, a $5 customer charge increase for the cost of maintaining the company’s delivery system would be offset by lower natural gas costs.

The PSC has approved an adjustment in gas prices for what MGE said is the lowest price in seven years. The rate is about a quarter per hundred cubic feet cheaper than it was a year ago, at about 70 cents, down from about 95 cents. The exact rate that will go into effect Sunday is 69.754 cents per hundred cubic feet. It was 94.501 cents last year at this time.

Fulp said that could save many customers about $20 per month, or $100 for the heating season. He said the price has dropped because of abundant supply.

“There has been a lot of new natural gas tapped because of shale gas,” Fulp said. That is gas that has been accessible by new mining technology that allows tapping into shale rock to reach natural gas deposits. “There’s enormous supplies of that in the U.S.,” Fulp said. Also, the federal government has lifted bans, allowing drillers to work the U.S. coastline to tap into gas supplies under the ocean, he said.

“We have a lot more natural gas available than what we are using, and even after the economy rebounds, we expect the price will remain relatively stable,” Fulp said.

Kansas electric customers

Some residents of Southeast Kansas are seeing a slight reduction in their electric rates.

Those who live in Crawford and Bourbon counties have seen drops of about 71 cents a month on the average bill for 900 kilowatt-hours as a result of Kansas regulators allowing Westar Energy to equalize its rates between its former KGE customers in the southern part of the state and its KPL customers to the north.

“KGE customers in the south paid more than those in the north, and now we’re looking at having the same rates spread throughout the territory,” said Nick Bundy, a spokesman for Westar, which had acquired KGE and KPL and had been working toward rate parity for all customers.

Customers in the Pittsburg area received a rate reduction of three-tenths of a cent per kilowatt-hour as a result.

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