The power company is considering a 13% rate increase it says is to catch up with the cost of providing service in the rapidly growing Heber Valley.
If the increase is approved, an average household would pay $12 to $15 more each month.
Providing electricity is expensive – and only becoming more so, according to Heber Light & Power general manager Jason Norlen.
He said operating costs have gone up, in part because it’s getting pricier for the company to source its power.
“A coal facility that’s been very affordable for our rate payers over the years is going offline, and what it’s being replaced with just costs us more,” he said. “Our wholesale power costs are increasing incrementally over the years, and the smaller rate increases that we’ve been doing just haven’t been keeping up with the overall costs to serve our customers.”
Plus, insurance for the company isn’t cheap, even though the Heber Valley is relatively sheltered from natural disasters that are a big liability for utility companies elsewhere.
Norlen said it has to also factor in costs to build out the utility infrastructure for a larger population.
“As we grow, we’ve got to build some very expensive projects,” he said. “We’re having to build substations. You probably heard about the transmission line that was recently built through the valley – those transmission projects are well north of $1 million a mile.”
He said the company tries to avoid large rate increases with high impact fees for every new customer, but those fees only go so far and can only be used for certain costs, like capital projects.
And he said the group also has to keep wages competitive to retain its workers. That population growth means Heber Light & Power needs more employees. For example, Norlen said it just hired its first systems engineer.
“We used to contract that out when we needed help,” he said. “Now, it’s to a point where it was just cheaper for us to hire an engineer, bring him in-house.”
Expenses aside, Norlen said it’s a challenge for the utility company to keep pace with the Heber Valley’s growth.
“We’re putting on several hundred new customers a year,” he said. “I go back to when I started at the utility, and you’re lucky to see 50 new customers in a year, if that. It’s really changed a lot.”
Last year, the company took on about 600 new electricity customers. A quiet year for the company now is 300 to 400 new users.
If the rate increase is approved, it will be up to the company’s board, which is made up of elected officials from around the region, to decide when the changes will go into effect. Norlen said it would probably be during an off-peak month like April or October.
The board could also approve a rate increase lower than the 13% recommended by consultants.
Residents can learn more and share their thoughts at a hearing Feb. 26. It starts at 6 p.m. in the Heber Light & Power building.
