By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
High fuel prices are no longer just for automobilies. As the cost of all types of fuel increases, those costs are now showing up on electric bills. Evergy, the state's largest energy provider, recently reported a 52-percent increase in energy-purchasing costs. That translates to a 20-percent higher electric bill even with no additional power usage. Hoisington residents were shocked by this month's electric bills.
"The city implemented a rate increase, and then applied a PCA, a Power Cost Adjustment, that hit the bills on this billing cycle," said Hoisington City Manager Jonathan Mitchell. "The main driver of that is the staggering increase in the cost of energy we're purchasing, and then also for the equipment to keep our system up and running. We've been seeing a significant rise in those costs, and we've really tried to absorb those for the past year and a half or so. It's just gotten to a point where we're no longer able to absorb that."
The uptick in electric bills is part of a perfect storm: surging energy costs multiplied by increased consumption due to prolonged warm weather. Some residents report their bills doubled from the month before. Many others reported increases between 30 and 40 percent.
"We've always prided ourselves on our ability to work with customers," Mitchell said. "The unfortunate thing is this isn't really a cost we want to pass on, it's a cost we have to pass on just because our costs have gone up so much. It's really not out of line with what you're seeing elsewhere."
According to Hoisington city code, when the cost of power supply-related costs and expenses incurred by the city increases above or decreases below 7.418 cents, a specified formula is used to pass on those costs or savings to consumers. Mitchell said the city uses a base-rate cost of 5.937 cents per kilowatt hour and tries to hold the line at zero, but costs are simply too great now.
"We were passing zero on for Power Cost Adjustment for many years," he said. "It's just gotten so expensive we can no longer pass it on as zero. We have to pass on that difference to our customers."
Mitchell said the city encourages residents to do what they can to cut energy costs, including adding insulation and adjusting the thermostat. The good news is cooler weather should be on the way.
"All of our bills in Hoisington are tied to consumption," said Mitchell. "During the shoulder months, when you see that nice, cool fall weather, typically you see a reduction in consumption, which would reduce your bill. The other side of that is, during winter, some people have electric heat. If you're using electric heat you consume a lot of energy during the winter months. But for those that have traditional, gas-fired heat, typically you see a reduction in your electric when you see a rise in gas consumption."
But there is some bad news as well. As long as energy costs around the nation remain high, rates are unlikely to decrease locally.
"Unfortunately, we can't predict the cost of energy," Mitchell said. "Our consultants we've reached out to about the cost of energy are not super optimistic it's going to drop in the near future. If it does, there'd obviously be a reduction in that Power Cost Adjustment as well."