Current | LES Customer Newsletter Current - October 2017

Current
1040 O Street, P.O. Box 80869
Lincoln, NE 68501-0869
8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday
Lincoln Electric System
X67071
LES’ CUSTOMER NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 2017
Customer Service: 402.475.4211
Power Outage: 888.365.2412 - Toll Free
Nebraska811 (call before you dig): 811 - Toll Free
Nationally low rates staying in Lincoln
LES proposing no rate increase for 2018 budget.
Lincoln Electric System staff and its board’s Budget & Rates
Committee recommended no increase to retail electric rates except
for Street & Highway Lighting customers in its 2018 budget and
rates proposal during the September LES Administrative Board
meeting.
LES’ proposed 2018 budget totals $363.9 million, allotting $273.4
million for operating costs and the remaining $90.5 million for
capital projects. This is only $2.1 million more in capital projects
and $17.5 million less in operating costs than 2017.
With no system-wide average rate adjustment, the only changes
Residential and Heating Service customers will notice on their
monthly bills will come in the form of ongoing work to restructure
rates. In 2018, customers will again see a decrease in energy rates
(identified as the Energy Charge on account statements) offset by an
increase in the Facilities Charge. The Facilities Charge will collect
fixed costs for LES to maintain and deliver energy to our customers.
Most customers will notice little to no change to their bill.
“We are happy to let our customers know that they will not see an
increase in electric rates this year,” said Vice President and CFO
Laura Kapustka. “In addition, the ongoing efforts to restructure our
rates will allow us to more efficiently account for the fixed costs
in delivering power to our customers and keep LES as one of the
nation’s leaders in maintaining reliable, public power service.”
The changes to the 2018 Facilities Charge are a continuation of LES’
rate restructuring in recent years. Like many other utilities, LES is
transitioning from collecting dollars for fixed cost items through the
variable charge for customers’ energy consumption to recovering
those fixed cost items through fixed charges like the Customer and
Facilities Charges.
The Board will take action on the 2018 budget and rates at its Oct.
20 meeting, but LES invites customers to learn more at the Oct. 5
public meeting.
LES.com
OCT
1-7
2017 Public Power Week
LES is celebrating Public Power
Week with more than 2,000 other
community-owned, not-for-profit
electric utilities that collectively
bring electricity to 49 million
Americans across 49 states
and five territories. Join us in
acknowledging our shared history
of affordable electricity, reliable
power and local people serving
local people on social media with
the hashtag #PublicPowerWeek!
OCT
5
2018 Budget & Rates
Public Meeting
6-7 P.M. • THURSDAY, OCT. 5
WALTER A. CANNEY SERVICE
CENTER (2620 FAIRFIELD ST.)