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Saturday, April 8, 2000
CPL customers face higher electric bills for six months
By Andrea Jares
Caller-Times
Electric bills, like temperatures, are on the rise.
The average Central Power and Light customer can expect to begin paying 4.5 percent more - or about $3.39 for every 1,000 kilowatt hours used. That's the amount used by the typical residential customer.
The increase is the result of a sharp rise in the price of natural gas, the fuel that powers more than half of CPL's generating capacity, said Jessica Mahaffey, CPL spokeswoman. Between August 1998 and August 1999, fuel costs jumped 42 percent, she said.
The company is allowed to ask the Public Utility Commission to recover or refund expenses associated with the cost of fuel two times a year. Public utilities can only charge the true cost of what is spent on fuel plus interest, without making a profit.
In January, CPL asked the PUC for $36.5 million in uncollected fuel costs and interest. That would have meant the average CPL customer would have paid $3.80 per month for six months.
The commissioners allowed CPL to recoup $24.8 million in fuel costs that were underreported from March 1998 to November 1999.
The changes do not affect the base rates on the bill, which are frozen as a provision of moving to a restructured electricity market that allows competition.
The new fuel factor went into effect last month and a fuel surcharge started April 1.
The fuel surcharge, separated as a line item on customers' bills, will only be in effect for six months. During the period between April and September, the fuel costs will jump from 7.6 cents per kilowatt hour to 7.9 cents per kilowatt hour.
In October, the fuel costs will revert to 7.6 cents per kilowatt hour.
In March, CPL increased the fuel rates, or the cost of burning natural gas to create electricity.
The average amount customers will pay with both of these rate increases averaged over a 12-month period is $2.48 per month, Mahaffey said.
Business writer Andrea Jares can be reached at 886-3678 or by e-mail at jaresa@caller.com
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