LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — Crawfish prices aren’t the only thing being impacted by this summer’s drought. People with SLEMCO are seeing increases in their energy bills.
Customers will be paying an extra ten to thirty dollars per month. The good news, however, SLEMCO Communications Coordinator Mary Laurent said the extra costs are only temporary. SLEMCO customers will only be paying the extra money for the next year.
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“The reason for the increase is because in November and December, the water levels on the Mississippi river caused the transportation of the coal that’s used to generate the power that we provide to people, that cost was up greatly. That’s because of the fact that the water levels were down, so they needed to get more coal barges and river pilots and, you know, tugboats and all that kind of stuff,” Laurent said.
Laurent explains SLEMCO was billed for those extra fuel costs at the end of 2023. Now, they need to recoup those costs. Instead of hitting customers with one massive bill, SLEMCO created a year-long plan.
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“We didn’t want to burden our customers with those extra charges all at once, so that’s why we broke it down into 12 months,” Laurent added.
She explains customers have always paid a small fuel charge on their bills. For the next 12 months, those fuel charges will go up by one penny based on how much energy you use.
“For 1,000 kilowatt hours, it might be $10 a month. For 3,000 kilowatt hours, it would be an extra $30 a month, or whatever it is they use,” Laurent said.
Essentially, the more energy you use, the bigger the fuel upcharge will be per month.
“We really understand the frustration, and if anybody is really struggling, we suggest and encourage them to call our customer service department at 896-5200,” Laurent said. “If they don’t understand what the calculation is, if they have concerns, if they’re upset because of what it is, maybe we can explain to them a little bit better. We’re happy to do that. We’re member-owned, and we want to make sure our customers know we’re there for them and what we’re trying to do and why.”
This extra fuel cost plan began on Feb. 1. It will last one year.
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