VIDALIA — As town officials continue to look into ordinances not being followed by the town, another non-compliance issue has been discovered — utility rates.

Vidalia Mayor Buz Craft said state statute requires an ordinance stating how a municipality’s utility charges — including electricity — are calculated.

“The town hasn’t been compliant for years,” he said. “There is supposed to be a statute saying why we charge what we charge and how it is calculated. We’ve never had an ordinance saying how utilities are calculated.”

Craft said once the 2016-17 budget is amended, he and the board plan to study the rates, create an ordinance and potentially revise the rates.

Monthly power costs are based on several factors, but the most significant are the tiered rate and the power cost adjustment.

The city’s utility rate schedule document only lists the tiered cost and the power cost adjustment.

The tiered rate for most municipalities is meant to cover overhead and operational costs, Vidalia consultant and Certified Public Accountant Elizabeth Tanner said.

Tanner said the power cost adjustment for most municipalities is basically a fuel adjustment cost, covering the cost of fuel and natural gas used to generate the power bought from the Louisiana Energy and Power Authority.

The tiered rate adjusts based on usage. The minimum charge $16.92 is for 100 kilowatt hours. Up to 1,000 kWh, the charge is $111.58 per month. The charge is .0995 per kWh for usage in excess of 1,000 kWh.

Tanner said the tiered rate has not changed since the new administration has taken over, but the power cost adjustment changes every month.

Craft said several times over the past few months, the power cost adjustment has been lowered where possible.

During December, the rate is .00954, which means for every 1,000 kWh used, the charge would be $9.54 added to the bill, Tanner said.

In June, before the new administration took over, the rate was .02174 or $21.74 added for every 1,000 kWh.

“It is Vidalia’s responsibility to charge fair rates, without sacrificing the quality of services,” Tanner said. “The only way a fair price can be charged is to ensure comprehensive, valid data is being used to make decisions, and Vidalia is currently in the process of assembling that data.

“The hope is that thorough analysis will provide additional cost savings, which can be passed onto citizens in the way of utility rate changes.”

Craft said over the summer, the rates were unacceptably high.

A Vidalia utility customer using 1,000 kWh in June paid approximately 52-percent higher than the lowest rate in the region, and residents similarly paid the highest rates amongst fellow LEPA members.

The bills for residents had become so high Vidalia officials used $150,000 to help subsidize costs for residents during the late summer months.

Since the summer, Craft said residential customers’ average usage has gone down and more people are using natural gas instead of electricity.

The natural gas minimum charge is $10.50 per month. The cost is 1.19 per CCF — the amount of gas contained in a space equal to one hundred cubic feet,

Craft said he believes the high rates in Vidalia reflect poor management from the past administration, in that the rates were helping prop up unnecessary spending. Craft said he would like to see the rates decrease through the study.

“Overall, the cost for utilities in my opinion has been too much,” he said. “We have got to get that right.”