OCR Text |
Show t Electric bill does not compute, Parte City resident complains by Christopher Smart If you've tried to tally up your electric bill lately and the itemized figures don't add up to the total, that's because a charge for the "energy balancing account" is not listed. Parkite Pete Simpson argues, "We shouldn't have to pay it if it isn't in the bill." Simpson said he tried to calculate his electric bills recently by multiplying the rate by the amount of power used. He complained that an extra charge was in his bill somewhere but was not itemized. Simpson said that when he complained to the local office of Utah Power and Light (UP&L), he was told that the extra charges did not appear on the computer and therefore an explanation was not forthcoming. "If the computer doesn't know it and if the customers don't know, who does know?" Simpson wondered. The director of Communication Communi-cation and Financial Reporting Report-ing for UP&L, Grant Pendleton Pendle-ton said that the extra charge, which appears only in the total of billings, is a fee for what is called the "energy balancing account." ac-count." Pendleton said those charges reflect fluctuations in the cost of fuel purchased by the utility for the generation genera-tion of power plus the costs of purchasing power from other utilities. Pendleton added that any funds garnered by UP&L for the sale of electricity to other utilities has the effect of lowering the charge for the "energy balancing ac count." He could not say, however, why the special account charges were not itemized on the computerized computer-ized billings. The "energy balancing account" charges used to be included in the rate customers cus-tomers were charged for each kilowatt hour used, Pendleton said. However, the Utah Public Service Commission, the body that governs public utilities, established es-tablished the account to "more accurately track the cost of fuel and purchased power," he said. The Public Service Commission Com-mission reviews the account quarterly and adjusts the customer charges depending on fuel and power costs, according to Pendleton. Currently Cur-rently the "energy balancing balanc-ing account" charges run at ium apartments he owns around Park City. But Pendleton explained that three different rate schedules were in effect for non-industrial customers. He said the rate categories depended upon whether a particular residence uses electric water and heaters and or space heaters or is completely electric. Those customers who use electric heat in the household house-hold but do not use electric water heaters pay a higher rate than those who use both electric space and water heaters, Pendleton said. But customers that are completely electric pay two rates, he said. Since it is more expensive initially to supply electricity to buildings build-ings that are all electric, the initial rate is substantially higher than the others. But that rate changes to one much lower after 400 kilowatt kilo-watt hours of usage. That number of kilowatt hours is equivalent to two sevenths of what the average customer uses each month, he said. Pendleton explained that after a certain amount of usage, electricity becomes cneaper loaeiiver. Simpson's electric bills, along with those of every other UP&L customer, may soon be going even higher. Recently UP&L asked the Public Service Commission for an additional $92 million annually, according to UP&L Director of Media Relations John Serfustini. That request is equivalent to a 14.3 percent increase in rates, he said. If the Public Service Commission grants the request, the average residential electric bill will increase by $6.50 monthly. Serfustini said the requested re-quested increase is needed to offset the costs of recently-added generating, transmission trans-mission and distribution facilities. fac-ilities. A hearing to determine deter-mine if an interim request should be granted will be held by the Public Service Commission on Jan. 23 and 24, he said. The interim rate hike request would allow UP&L to increase charges before the formal request for increases in-creases is granted. i.ab muis ior eacn Kiiowau hour used, he said. Ten mills are equivalent to one cent. Beyond not being able to add up his electrical bill to his satisfaction, Simpson said he believed he was being charged three different dif-ferent rates for his electricity electri-city at different condomin- |