By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
As the Price Council gathered on Wednesday, Nov. 12, the body was presented with a new idea to manage power usage spikes and the associated cost: a purchased power adjustment clause. Following a public hearing at which citizens’ concerns about the proposal were addressed, the council unanimously approved the measure.
“The Electric Committee received information from the consulting firm that had a list of recommendations in it, some of which didn’t seem to make sense, but this one did. That group explored it, did some analysis, and the concept is this is an alternative to increasing rates,” explained Community Director Nick Tatton. “If you have a spike in energy, or a spike in dollars, or both, that spike would be spread over the entire following year.”
Tatton also shared that any excess funds from this proposal would be used for utility capital projects such as transformers, power lines and poles.
Mayor Mike Kourianos asked Tatton how often these surges in power usage occur, and Tatton replied that they are typically seasonal, with July, August, September and October. He also mentioned winter spikes in December and January.
Explaining the estimated impact of the change, councilmember Joe Christman stated, “So there was a test period. I don’t know what the spike was that the test was based on, but it amounted to $22.32 per year for a residential. So about $1.80 or so a month.”
“Really, what it does is it’s an alternative to any rate increases,” explained Tatton. “It’s been right around two and a half years since there were any rate adjustments. The committee is also not recommending any rate adjustments, but instead it’s called the purchase power adjustment.”
One citizen asked what the surplus of money would be directed toward, and Tatton reiterated that the funds would be put toward energy infrastructure.
Closing the hearing and putting the proposal to a vote, the council approved the purchased power adjustment clause unanimously.
Tucked into the consent agenda, the council also removed a maligned policy from the city’s personnel policy manual that offered a 24-month severance package to employees fired without cause. The clause came under fire in recent weeks by councilmember Christman, whose efforts contributed to the removal.
Watch the full meeting here: