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4.14.05 M.U.D. hoping to gain ground with Bellevue OK The Metropolitan Utilities District believes that it will be in a better position to compete for new customers in the Bellevue area now that it has a franchise agreement with the city. The M.U.D. board recently approved the franchise with Bellevue, as did the Bellevue City Council. Bellevue is served by Aquila Inc. as well as by M.U.D., but Aquila was alone in having a franchise agreement with the city until the M.U.D. approval. When utilities disagree over which has the right to expand in a given area, they take their dispute to state regulators. State law gives a slight benefit of the doubt to utilities with franchise agreements. Legally, actions by such utilities are presumed to be in the public's interest. Tom Wurtz, president of M.U.D., said M.U.D. now will have equal standing in that respect. Aquila did not object to M.U.D.'s efforts to obtain the franchise. Jan Davis, spokeswoman for Aquila, said the utility does not believe that the franchise agreement changes the playing field. "Nothing is different," Davis said. The franchise agreement does not affect existing customers. M.U.D. serves about 75 percent of Bellevue. M.U.D. will charge all Bellevue customers the same gas prices whether they are inside or outside of its franchise territory. Aquila pays Bellevue a 3 percent franchise fee. M.U.D. will be paying 2 percent. City officials say state law limits their authority to tax M.U.D. to 2 percent. That's because M.U.D. is a public utility, while Aquila is a private utility. |
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