The Municipal Utilities Board on Wednesday, October 30th, adopted resolutions authorizing Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based rate adjustments for the Decatur Utilities Electric, Gas and Water systems. A typical residential electric customer using 1000 kWh per month will see an increase of $3.71 spread between the monthly access fee and kWh charge. A typical residential gas customer will see a monthly increase of $0.50 in the monthly access fee, and a typical residential water customer using 5,000 gallons of water will see an increase of $0.75 per month in the monthly access fee. There was no increase in wastewater rates.
Overall, the average residential customer using all four services at these levels will see a total increase of approximately $4.96 - or 2.1%. Pending approval by the Decatur City Council, the increases will go into effect with January 2025 billing cycles.
"While we strive to keep rates as low as feasible, the significant inflation we’ve experienced in the last three-to-four years makes it necessary to increase revenue to maintain the financial health of each system," said Ray Hardin, Decatur Utilities General Manager. "The CPI-based approach minimizes the impact of the increase on our customers. DU is pleased to continue to offer utility services with the lowest total utility bill in the state."
BACKGROUND NOTE:
Rates for utility bills at DU and other utilities are made up of two components:
A flat access fee and a volumetric rate based on usage of the particular utility service.