Clark Public Utilities customers can expect a one-time dip in their power bills this summer, after a $10 million credit is applied to users districtwide.
The credit will equate to about 29 percent of the average of January and February combined power usage — not the bills received during those months, but the consumption read at the meter during those months.
The utility announced on Wednesday that the credit will be applied to the June bill, which might not be the same month customers actually receive their bills.
The actual credit people get will vary widely depending on the size of the building they own, the way it’s heated and more. However, if, say, a ratepayer paid $250 in January and $150 in February, the average would be $200 and the credit would be $58. But again, the actual credit size will vary depending on each individual’s usage.
The utility’s board of commissioners approved the $10 million credit from surplus 2017 revenue during its regular meeting on May 15.
EqualPay customers and Guarantee of Service Program customers will see the credit applied to their account balance.
At the same meeting, the commission voted to direct another $2 million of surplus revenue into a low and limited income energy efficiency program anticipated to help customers install energy-saving thermostats. The project is still in development. Its final form and rollout date are still being determined.
“But it’s all good news and will be good for customers,” Clark Public Utilities spokeswoman Erica Erland said in an email. “The board made this decision after a determination that the current rate stabilization fund remains sufficient to provide a buffer should any of the many variables impacting power supply costs change dramatically and simultaneously.”
Erland said the utility has $50 million saved in the stabilization fund, thanks largely to lower-than-forecasted power supply costs and strategic management of the utility’s River Road Generation Plant — a gas-fired power plant.
The utility gave its customers a similar credit on their March 2017 bills. That $10 million credit came on the heels of a particularly cold winter.
Clark Public Utilities provides electricity to more than 195,000 customers and water to about 34,000 customers in Clark County.
