Apr. 17—Athens Utilities proposed to the Athens City Council a rate adjustment, but one councilman is adamantly opposed to it, saying there is no reason for the change.
“We’re increasing our customer charge to get closer to our operating and maintenance cost, while decreasing the energy charge so we can stay revenue neutral,” said Athens Utilities Electric Services Manager Hunter Allen. “From a budget standpoint, there’s no more revenue. We’re just trying to cover our cost.”
At Monday’s Athens City Council meeting, Allen gave a presentation and proposed to the council the electric rate increase that would go into effect Oct. 1, pending Tennessee Valley Authority approval.
Allen said this adjustment was planned and is the second part to last year’s increase in June which was the same type of adjustment.
“We split the rate adjustment across two years instead of doing it all in one year,” he said. “We’re just trying to make increments over the years to get to where we need to be.”
There are no plans at this time, Allen said, for another adjustment after this one.
“If you use more power, in theory, you could see a lower utility bill with this proposed rate adjustment,” he said. If you use an average amount of power “you’ll stay pretty neutral; your bill really shouldn’t change at all. If you use less, you will see a slight increase on your bill, like at my house, I’ll see around $10 a year.”
Allen said the majority of Athens Utilities customers will see no change on their bill. There will be a $2 increase on every customers’ bill, however, he said it will be counteracted.
“There’s a $2 increase on the customer charge, but a reduction on the kilowatt energy charge. It comes out to about a 1.5% decrease on the energy charge,” Allen said. “The reduction in energy charge will cancel out the $2 increase on the customer charge.”
District 2 Councilman Harold Wales objected to the change.
“They don’t need the money,” he said. “They’ve got a surplus. … They did at budget time. Their budget’s good. They just want more and more. It’s enough. That’s coming out of your pocket and my pocket. If they needed it, I’d say, ‘OK, we’ve got to find a way to do this.’ Any kind of increase, I’m against, unless there is a need. There is no need.”
There was a resolution to approve the rate adjustment on Monday night’s agenda. First the council voted on suspending the rules to vote on the resolution that night. The vote was 4-1 with Wales voting against the rules suspension. That means the resolution will roll over to the next meeting for a vote.
“I want to give these (council members) time to change their mind,” Wales said. “That’s the only thing I had at my disposal. They’ve got two weeks to think about it.”
After the meeting, Allen said he does not view the utility’s budget as having a surplus.
“We don’t see it as that,” he said. “We are a not-for-profit utility, so we’re not in the business of making money. We don’t raise rates, by any means, to increase revenue unless it’s absolutely necessary and there’s no other option.”
Allen said TVA, from which Athens Utilities purchases power, has raised its rates the past two years.
“Obviously prices on materials have gone up on everything,” he said. “There are cost-saving measures that we have to take to avoid doing a true rate increase. So far, we’ve been able to stave off those.”
Allen said Athens Utilities does have savings.
“Even if there is a surplus, we have to back some toward savings for storm season and any other unexpected expenses that may come up,” he said. “One storm can eat up multiple millions of dollars real quick. Even if there is a surplus for one year, it needs to be saved.”
—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.