Gwen Kautz, Dawson PPD General Manager
An independent cost of service study was reviewed in depth at the April board meeting.
Our priorities at Dawson PPD have been the same since the beginning: To bring our customers safe, reliable, and affordable electric power. Our board works hard to make sound business decisions to attain these goals. We approached our 2018 budget by defining our needs vs. wants, much like you would at home. Distribution system improvement projects were evaluated and prioritized, and some were rescheduled to a later date.
All General Service Rate and A-SH General Service Electric Heat Rate customers will see an increase of $1 on their distribution charge effective with their May statements. The board unanimously passed this decision at the April 12 board meeting. The General Service Rate’s monthly distribution charge will change from $28 per month to $29. The A-SH General Service Electric Heat Rate will move from $30 per month to $31.
The distribution charge defrays Dawson PPD’s costs associated with bringing power to the customer, like power lines, substation equipment, maintenance and administration. It was implemented in 2015, along with lower kilowatt hour charges, and is billed every month in addition to the amount of kilowatt hours used. The cost per kilowatt hours used will remain the same as it was in 2017.
Irrigation services billed in October 2017 will see an increase of up to two percent on energy charges while the demand charge will be reevaluated for change in 2019.
As a not-for-profit utility, Dawson PPD uses bonds to finance large-scale improvements to its distribution system and ensure safe and reliable service. Dawson PPD previously used its cash reserves to pay for these expenses, much like using funds from a savings account. By building the cash reserves back up, the District will qualify for better bond rates in the future and money saved on interest rates benefits everyone. The evidence of this value has been demonstrated recently during the last storm where we had a limited number of customers without power for less than 24 hours. Others around us were not as fortunate.
We pride ourselves on being transparent with you, our customer. You have the right to review our rate information at any time. To do this, you may visit our Lexington, Kearney or North Platte offices, call us at 308-324-2386 or 800-752-8305, or visit DawsonPower.com.
May 2018