Electricity rates are going up for people in the Omaha area next year, by a general increase of 4.9 percent.
Board members of the Omaha Public Power District voted unanimously Thursday for the rate increase, even while acknowledging the difficult economic times in a recession marked by job layoffs and pay cuts.
Board members said OPPD's revenue also took a hit in the recession and the utility has been cutting its budget, but it must maintain a reliable network. The district needs to increase revenue in 2010 by about $35 million.
OPPD president and CEO Gary Gates said public comments that district officials fielded before Thursday's vote centered on ways the utility might cut more costs and why conservation efforts don't seem to help keep rates down.
Gates said the district cut its 2010 operating budget by $23 million, but doing more could risk the district's ability to reliably produce electricity. Gates said conservation efforts help reduce the district's need to build more power generating facilities. But Gates said conservation alone would not make up for the recession-driven drop in the district's revenue as industrial demand for electricity plummeted.
OPPD serves a 13-county region. In 2010, the average residential customer of OPPD will see a 4.9 percent increase, from $82.36 a month to $86.68. Commercial customers such as retail store will see an average bill increase of 3.9 percent, from $457.46 to $475.46. For manufacturing or industrial customers, the average bill will rise from about $67,780 to $72,041, or 6.3 percent.
The average bill for cities will increase from about $59,096 to $62,018, or 4.9 percent.
Even with the rate increase, OPPD said the average cost of its electricity remains well below the national average.
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