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8.25.05 M.U.D. increases charges for budget plan customers Metropolitan Utilities District is increasing by 26 percent the amount charged to customers on its level payment plan. Most people are getting the news in bills arriving this month, although the effect of the increase varies, said Ron Bucher, MUD's senior vice president of administration. Some customers will see an increase, others none at all. It depends upon how much of a debt or surplus they have left from the previous billing year, he said. About one-third, or 66,000, of M.U.D. customers participate in level payment, which spreads a customer's costs over the course of the year in equal amounts. M.U.D. calls the program its budget plan. Most of the increase, about 22 percentage points, is due to anticipated higher natural gas costs and usage, Bucher said. M.U.D. does not set the wholesale price of gas and passes along to customers whatever it pays for gas. Wholesale prices are up sharply over last year. Another 2 percentage points of the increase are due to an expectation that a customer's water usage will return to normal next summer and that water rates will be slightly higher. The M.U.D. board is expected to vote on a slight increase in water rates later this year, Bucher said. Gas and water use were lower than usual this past year because of milder-than-normal weather. Taxes account for the remaining 2 percentage points of the increase, Bucher said. |
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