Column for June 9, 2011

I don’t want to pay your electricity bill. I am sure that you don’t want to pay mine, either. In Selma, our electricity bills contain a lot of taxes. Anything above what we would normally pay by purchasing electricity through Progress Energy is in effect, a tax. The rate we are charged per kilowatt hour in Selma is significantly higher than Progress Energy would normally charge residential retail customers. I have done the math. That is why I kind of like the new “prepaid electricity” concept that Selma is moving towards.

With the majority of Selma residents being renters rather than homeowners, we have a higher than average possible transient population. This can lead to people skipping out on their utility bills. To combat this, the town instituted a hefty deposit requirement for new utility customers. I understand the concept, but also know that a lot of people cannot handle the $450 or so deposit. I know that when I bought my house in town, I would not have been able to fork out for that sort of deposit after all the money I paid just to be able to move in. I realize that the town has a different policy towards actual homeowners but, I am just saying it is difficult for many.

When people leave bills hanging and a deposit does not cover the cost, we, the remaining customers and townsfolk, pay for it one way or another. That is just the simple economics of it. The same principle works for auto or health insurance and private utility companies. We all pay for claims and losses in the end.

The pay as you go principle works well for a lot of people. I have a prepaid cell phone for my wife and we are happy with it for the little bit of use it gets. We can put as much or as little money on our account as we wish, depending upon our usage and budget. For a lot of people, this may be the way to go with electricity bills.

It is bad enough that our trash collection will be going up, which shows up on our utility bills. It is good to see that at least the town is considering ways to alleviate the heavy burden of paying utility bills all at once. Quite honestly, there have been a few times where it was a struggle for us to meet the entire bill. Money is tighter than it used to be for us, but I still make a comfortable living.

If you are like me, you struggled with getting two utility bills in the same month last month. I see that the due date is now different, and I am hoping it will not be permanent. Good grief, that would throw my entire monthly budget into chaos, since for almost nine years I have been budgeting to have my utility bill paid in the middle of the month and my mortgage payment at the end of the month. I am sure that others will have the same frustration. My utility bill can run as high as $400 a month and I don’t know about you, but a $400 swing across two weeks will take some getting used to.

The beautiful part of the prepaid or pay-as-you-go plan is that people can put money on an account ahead of time and their usage draws against that account. For those who can’t afford a whopping bill, are renters, are temporary residents, or frequently delinquent in paying their bills, this may be a great solution.

I have long said that if I am willing to complain about something, I had better be equally willing to compliment. I am complimenting the Town of Selma for the innovation. I am sure that the town would get a lot more compliments from everybody if they would change the rate we are paying on our residential electrical service. The town charges about 13 cents per kilowatt hour whereas Progress Energy direct residential customers pay 9.15 (or 10.15 depending upon the season) per kilowatt hour. Multiply that times the number of kilowatt hours you use and you will be amazed at how fast those extra three or four pennies adds up. One month that made about $100 difference in my bill. That extra $100 is what should be considered extra taxation.

If the town is going to be an electric company, I applaud the effort to be more flexible for its customers. Still, it would be better if we would just get out of Electricities all together, sell off our electrical grid, and let the private sector deliver the same service for less money.