Utility customers in Waynesville may get budget billing option
Seasonal billing surprises can leave utility customers sweating summer spikes or shivering in anticipation of winter surges, but a budget billing program being considered by the Town of Waynesville would help keep those bills steady as a spring breeze.
Customers of Duke Energy or the Haywood Electric Membership Corporation may already be familiar with the practice, which basically averages out electric usage over the course of the year and bills the same amount, every month.
During a March 21 budget retreat, Waynesville Town Council Member Jon Feichter proposed just such a plan, noting that for the elderly and for people in poverty, wide fluctuations in utility billing can wreck a household budget for months.
Council passed a motion to explore the pros and cons of relevant policies related to budget billing, including that customers must have a clean billing record for 12 months or that automatic drafts be mandatory for program participation. The program would, however, be strictly optional.
At the end of each 12-month cycle, accounts would be re-averaged and trued up either through credits going forward or additional charges for excess use.
Feichter’s plan is in the exploratory phase; Council would have to vote to adopt it.
— Cory Vaillancourt, politics editor
