SANTA CLARA — The Santa Clara City Council used a portion of its meeting Wednesday night to try to explain an increasing surcharge that has been showing up on residents’ power bills.
City officials say they have been receiving 20 to 30 calls per day from people who say they are upset with the power cost adjustment that was added to residents’ power bills more than a year ago. The charge is added when the city has to pay more for electricity than it takes in from the base rate of power bills.
While the power cost adjustment has been on the books since early 2022, residents are only noticing them now, according to city officials, because the cost of the natural gas that generates some of the power in Santa Clara has skyrocketed since last August and is just starting to go down now.
Both local residents and city officials have confirmed that many have seen their electrical bills go up by as much as 30% in the last few months.
But an expert on utility costs, speaking before the council Wednesday night, said without the power cost adjustment surcharge, the city’s power services would have been just as much underwater as the river banks below the surging Santa Clara River.
“If you hadn’t done that, you would have been in a lot of trouble,” Mark Beauchamp, who leads the utility study group, Utility Financial Solutions, told the council, adding that without the cost adjustment, Santa Clara Power would have ended up $1.6 million in the hole.
“I know it’s difficult, but you’re doing the right things,” he said.
The council unanimously passed the additional surcharge in January 2022. At the time, council members and city officials said it was needed to keep the city from going into debt over the rising cost of power. Council members called it the lesser of two evils, saying the alternative was an overall increase in the power rate.
No residents spoke for or against the power surcharge during that hearing in January. And despite the number of complaint calls the city says it is receiving, there were two residents in the audience during the discussion of the power rate issue at the meeting.
Beauchamp said while he is the bearer of bad news as far as the need for a power surcharge, he added the current downward trend of power generation costs should continue in the short term, and the power cost adjustment charge should go down with it.
Even so, council member Jarett Waite expressed concern that the cost adjustment still comes as more of a surprise on people’s power bills than just increasing the base rate.
“Would it be better to know what’s coming down the line than this random thing now?” Waite asked.
Beauchamp responded that unlike a base rate hike, a power cost adjustment is temporary. And from the standpoint of the city’s bond rating, it’s a bigger positive.
“A power cost adjustment is a huge positive to bond rating agencies,” Beauchamp said, adding that putting a cap on the adjustment would be viewed negatively. “You’re doing the right things, is my point.”
City leaders said they are planning a town hall to discuss power rates with residents.
“I have a hunch there will be more to come on this one,” Santa Clara Mayor Rick Rosenberg said.
Council approves dialysis center
The council unanimously approved a rezoning of the empty land on Santa Clara Parkway between Lamy’s Mexican Food restaurant and the Select Auto used car dealer for a dialysis center as well as additional commercial opportunities.
City Planner Jim McNulty lauded the addition of the 6,400-square-foot Fresenius Kidney Care as an asset for people in the city.
“It will be a nice facility,” McNulty said, adding it will provide another place for people needing dialysis care in Southern Utah. “There are three in the St. George area but this would be the first in Santa Clara.”
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