Electricity prices could go up in the city of Lompoc pending a decision by the Lompoc City Council. A proposed rate increase is tentatively scheduled to go before the council on Oct. 6, according to city staffers.
In an interview with the Sun, Lompoc Mayor Mike Siminski said there are currently two sets of recommendations making their way to the council.
“City staff recently made a presentation to the [Lompoc] Utility Commission asking them to recommend three 8-percent increases,” Siminski said. “The commission chose to present a 1 percent increase with additional increases within the year if necessary.”
According to a staff presentation, the commission is considering enforcing an 8-percent increase effective December 2009, followed by a potential overall increase of 17 percent applied in increments between 2010 and 2012. If the commission accepts the proposal, staffers will present the recommendations to the council at its next meeting on Oct. 6.
“Then it’ll be up to the council, and that’s when it starts to get political,” Mayor Siminski said. “The question will be: Do we do it all now, or do we want to be dealing with the increases when at least three of us are up for reelection? That’ll come into play.”
Historically, Lompoc residents have had to pay significantly lower electricity rates than their neighbors because of the city’s membership in the Northern California Power Agency, which independently generates energy through several methods.
However, a faltering economy paired with a three-year drought has made generating energy more difficult.
“Our utilities are going to go up,” said Siminski, who represents the city on the agency board. “But we’re staying on top of it. Even if rates increase to a total of 24 percent, we’ll still be lower than surrounding regions, because their rates will be increasing, too.”
For more information about the proposed rate increases, visit ci.lompoc.ca.us.
This article appears in Oct 1-8, 2009.