BPW OKs 5 percent electric rate increase

Local electric customers are looking at a 5 percent rate increase next year as Nebraska Public Power District passes a 7 percent rate increase for purchased power.

The Board of Public Works approved the 2008-09 fiscal year budgets for the water, street, electric and water pollution control departments on Wednesday. The budgets go to the Beatrice City Council for final approval.

The electric department is looking at an operating revenue income of $14.26 million and operating expenses of $13.41 million for the 2008-09 fiscal year, said City Administrator and BPW General Manage Neil Niedfeldt, City Administrator and BPW General Manager, said.

The electric budget included a 5 percent electric rate increase due to NPPD passing a 7 percent wholesale rate increase on to its customers that would increase the electric department’s budget by about $635,000, Niedfeldt said.

“Basically, what I tried to do was recover and pass through that $635,000 and be able to absorb the rest in our budget with current rates,” he said.

The electric department budget for next year will include about $8,000 for a rate study, as approved by the BPW board, Niedfeldt said.

“What a rate study does is to make sure that every rate class is paying their fair share,” he said.

Capital improvement projects are estimated to cost about $1 million in the electric department, Niedfeldt said. The projects will include the purchase of new transformers, conductor upgrades and 12.5 kv conversion projects.

The street department is projected to have a total revenue of $2.71 million, which includes $1 million from the Nebraska Department of Roads for the mill and overlay project on U.S. Highway 77 and U.S. Highway 136 scheduled for next year and about $989,760 from the gas tax, Niedfeldt said.

Total operating expenses for the department are expected to be about $2.8 million.

Capital improvement projects for the street department are projected at $1.8 million and will include the mill and overlay of U.S. Highway 77 and U.S. Highway 136.

The highway project will pay to resurface Sixth Street (U.S. Highway 77) from Ella to Grant streets, Washington to the railroad right-of-way and the railroad right-of-way to Tonka Lanes.

Court Street (U.S. Highway 136) will be resurfaced from Nebraska Highway 4 to the Court Street bridge and from Eighth to 19th streets.

Other capital improvement projects for the street department will include armor coating projects, drainage ditch reconstruction and drainage ditch rehabilitation.