By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
Paris, Tenn.—After a presentation by Board of Public Utilities (BPU) General Manager Terry Wimberley comparing BPU’s rates to other local utility rates in our area, the board Thursday approved the electric rate increase that has been under review.
Approved was an increase in the residential and small general service availability charges by $1.40 and 50 cents respectively to generate revenue in accordance with the five-year financial plan. The board also implemented new 50 cent grid access charges for residential and small general service classes in response to TVA changes in wholesale rate structures and realigned the large industrial retail rates with TVA’s wholesale rates to better reflect the cost of service.
With an overhead presentation, Wimberley showed the comparison between BPU bills to 150 other utilities across the Tennessee Valley. The comparisons showed that BPU’s annual bills are well below the average annual bills of other utilities across the valley.
Wimberley noted, “We stack up very well with the others. We’re lower than the other county-wide utilities.”
The rate increase follows the five-year plan that BPU staff has been working “very hard” to complete, he said. “To figure out what our financial needs are going to be for five years in the future, you have to have a crystal ball, but I believe we found good middle ground.”
Wimberley said BPU is always concerned with considering the impact the local rate structure has on customers. “We have a long history of fiscally conservative leadership and we’re carrying on with that. We wanted you to see the hard evidence and what we have done to preserve costs.”
Wimberley noted that a constant focus for BPU management is fiscal responsibility. “We are mindful that we are managing utility dollars for the community”, he said. BPU has the fourth lowest total operating expenses per customer of the 70 utilities surveyed, he noted.
Board members complimented staff on finding ways to cut costs to the consumers.
In other business—also fiscally-related—Wimberley presented the highlights of the Fiscal Year 2019 budgets for electric, water and wastewater departments. The board will review the proposed budgets and possibly hold a special meeting to discuss them further before the June meeting.
Photo by Shannon McFarlin.
Menu
