The heat is on with expensive utility billsFeb 18 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Melinda J. Overstreet Glasgow Daily Times, Ky.
This winter's weather has produced some of the highest electricity demands in the 70-plus years Tennessee Valley Authority has been producing energy. Part of that energy was consumed locally by customers of Glasgow Electric Plant Board, which purchases nearly all of its power from TVA. And electrical power wasn't alone in the increased consumption, either, as natural gas and even water utilities had to bump up production. "Residential electric bills for January 2014 are running about 20 percent higher than the previous January, on average," said Billy Ray, EPB's superintendent. Some homes that heat solely with electricity, though, have seen increases of as high as 80 percent, he said. Consumption is up that much because last January was a relatively mild one and this January seems to have been worse than usual by contrast, he said. "It wasn't just one day, it was day after day after day, and February is getting off to the same start," Ray said. "We've got drama playing out in our office every day with people getting these bills and thinking something's wrong. ... It's a real concern." TVA was struggling to meet the total regional demand on some of those days, he said, and normally it could purchase more power from neighbors, but the neighbors have been in the same shape this winter, Ray said. The CEO of TVA, at a recent meeting in Nash-ville, said TVA was within 45 minutes of issuing an order for rolling blackouts for power conservation on at least one day, Ray said. He further explained that if the consumption had continued increasing at the rate it had been and if TVA hadn't been able to get more power generation online, "the load would have eclipsed the capacity, and that's when they would have ordered us to start rolling blackouts." In the TVA publication "Customer Connections," TVA president and CEO Bill Johnson is quoted as saying, "It's no exaggeration to say that January was one of the most demanding months in TVA's generation history. In early January, we faced the coldest temperatures our region has seen since 1996, and some of the highest power demands." The newsletter goes on to state that "three waves of arctic cold in January tested the reliability of the TVA power and transmission system to keep the lights and heat on for the Valley's 9 million residents. By the end of the month, the region established several winter peak demand marks and five of the Top 10 days for the most energy used in TVA history." Caralyne Wright, director of member and public communications for Farmers Rural Electric Cooperative Corp., noted that for one-third of January, low temperatures remained at or below 15 degrees, and the average low temperature for January was 27. As a result, she said, members' homes used 20 percent more energy in January 2014 than they did in January 2013. Kay Coomes, public affairs manager for Kentucky and the Mid-States Division of Atmos Energy, said usage was definitely up for that company's customers, and the quantity of people with late bills and/or needing assistance with them was higher. She did not have exact local figures immediately available. Sarah Stonerock, Glasgow Water Co.'s billing supervisor, said the company typically gets an average of one payment voucher per month from someone who has gotten help with their bill, and in January, it got 13. Also, payment extensions were up 138 percent in January versus December, she said. "It's not necessarily that their water bill is up, I think they're just trying to get help wherever they can," she said. Demand and usage did go up in some cases, though. The February billing, which won't be complete until late in the month, will provide a more complete picture of January's consumption, said GWC's general manager, Scott Young, but out of the completed billing cycles as of Feb. 10, January consumption was up 32 percent compared to the same time period in 2013. The amount of water treated and pumped by the company increased 46.8 million gallons compared with January 2013, Stonerock said. "The increased consumption is most likely attributed to water line breaks that were experienced by the customer or where customers left the water dripping or running [to prevent pipes' freezing] during extreme cold temperatures," Young said. The number of bills that were adjusted due to leaks or service breaks was also considerably higher in January than December, Stonerock said. Read more in the print or digital Glasgow Daily Times. http://glasgowdailytimes.cnhi.newsmemory.com/ http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=31567089& |