Electric bills are going to go up throughout the Chattanooga area if a rate increase proposed Friday by EPB is approved in June.
The 5 percent increase, set to take effect July 1, will refill the utility’s coffers following more than $30 million in losses from the tornadoes that lashed the region in February and April. The year so far has been 15 times more expensive than the average $2 million budget for storm damage in a typical year, EPB President and CEO Harold DePriest said.
A customer with a $100 monthly power bill will see a $4.58 rate hike.
“Little things like $30 million storms have a way of taking away any spare cash,” he said. “Without the rate increase, we’re in trouble pretty quickly.”
The utility’s previous rate increase four years ago was planned to last three to five years, and this new increase should last five to eight years, DePriest said, provided there are no more record-setting storms.