Some Bristol residents are steamed over electricity bills that are taking an unprecedented bite out of their wallets when the economy is at its worst in decades.
“I live alone, and my bill went from about $113 last month to $251 this month,” Donnie Hicks of Bristol, Tenn., said as he sat in his truck Friday after paying his bill at the Bristol Tennessee Essential Services. “I leave the thermostat at 68 degrees, and I’m not home two weekends a month. All I know is that if it’s higher next month, I’ll go back in there and bellyache.”
Bonnie Hyland and her husband, John, have lived in Blountville for about seven years. They said they realize it’s winter and temperatures are dropping and that could cause bills to rise. But their December bill is the highest they’ve ever seen.
“It’s just amazing,” Bonnie Hyland said Friday at BTES’ main office. “Our bill last month was about $100; this month it’s $145. We use a wood stove, and we’re doing without just to pay these bills.”
Her husband said companies such as BTES and Bristol Virginia Utilities are monopolies and there’s not much people can do to have a voice in what they pay.
“I’m not thrilled,” John Hyland said. “They know they have us tucked in their pocket.”
In August, the Tennessee Valley Authority board approved an average 20 percent electric rate increase – mostly attributed to higher power production costs.
BVU and BTES, which supply about 50,000 customers in the area, buy their energy from TVA, and the authority’s rate increase is passed to customers through the “fuel cost adjustment,” which is changed quarterly to reflect what TVA pays for coal, natural gas and other sources to produce electricity.
In mid-November, TVA announced it will lower its surcharge for fuel costs effective Jan. 1. That change is expected to mean residential customers will see their bills drop between $4 and $8 a month, according to TVA officials.
But that news hasn’t eased the pain of higher electric bills.
Linda Laughlin, who lives with her husband in a small two-bedroom home, only uses BVU for electric service. Their most recent bill was $286, an increase over the previous month of $112, she said.
Brian Bolling, BVU vice president of customer service, said the National Weather Service has told the utility that November was the eighth-coldest on record for the area.
“It’s basic math,” he said about cold temperatures and higher electric bills. “You want the inside of your house to stay at 70 degrees, so you set the thermostat at 70. But it’s 55 outside, and that’s a 15-degree difference,” Bolling said. “Now, what if it’s 30 or 20? Your heating system has to work harder.
Also, people are seeing gas prices going down, but the cost of one of TVA’s most-used sources of energy – coal – is soaring.”
TVA sets a fuel cost that is passed down to utilities to cover what the authority pays to generate energy from coal, hydro-electric, natural gas and other sources.
COST BREAKDOWN BVU
(Those are rates effective in October 2008 for residential customers, and are slight increases from June 2008 based on the summary of rates posting on the BVU Web site.)
To determine kilowatt hours used, the previous meter reading is subtracted from the latest reading. But not all meters are the same. When they are read, the numbers might be used alone to determine kilowatts used but some meters are designed to use “multipliers.” In other words, the meter reading will be multiplied by a number, such as 10 or 100, to determine the actual kilowatt hours used. This is what is meant on your bill when you see the word, “multiplier.”
COST BREAKDOWN BTES
Mathematics aside, the customers who contacted the Herald Courier said they just wanted to be able to make ends meet. That sentiment is noted in an e-mailed snippet from Mary Leonard (no relation to Don Leonard). It was written in all capital letters and replete with exclamation marks regarding BVU charges.
“GOD HELP US ...”
ggray@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512
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