Electric Ordinance changes

The City Council, at their January 5 meeting, passed changes to the Electric Ordinance that establishes rates for service. Contrary to recent new articles, electric rates for City customers will not be increasing.
The electric rates for rural customers will be increasing 20%, about $10 per month for the average user. And commercial and industrial definitions have been more clearly defined to correct some differences in how we charge electricity to the commercial users.
Probably the biggest difference you will see is that the City will no longer be averaging the Power Costs over a 12 month period. This was a policy that started a few years ago to try to level out the electric costs for the customer. Instead, the power costs will be averaged over a 3 month period...the result, you will see higher bills in the summer and fall months, but lower bills in the winter and spring months...like it used to be. This was the result of concerns aired by the City Auditor because we we're deferring the cost of electricity beyond fiscal years.
I was assured however that this "averaging" will not affect the Level Pay Plan customer. Out of over 4700 utility customers, only 280 take advantage of the Level Pay Plan.