ERMUSR MISC MEMO 02-12-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The ar ~ s ~ s ~: ~r ~r sr We offer Energy Star rebates Elk River Municipal Utilities .offers its customers Energy Star appliance rebates on central and room air con- ditioners, air-source. `and geothermal heat pumps, '':.dehumidifiers, dishwashers, ~:' refrigerators, clothes wash- ers and water heaters. - Energy Star is a govern- ment/industry.. partnership that makes it easy. for con- ,~ ~° sumers ,, ,;~ ~ to :save ri money a n d protect the environment. Appliances that are Energy Star rated use less energy. That saves on your bill and helps reduce energy. con- sumption. Energy Star appliances. may cost more, because they come with more sophisticat- ed controls, more efficient. motors, etc., but they quickly pay back the additional cost. with energy. savings. For more. on our rebate programs, read on! Energy Star rated appliances save real energy and money How much energy will an Energy Star rated appliance save you? Energy Star rated _refrig- erators and room air condi- tioners, for example, use 10 percent less, air condition- ers, heat pumps and dish- washers 20 percent less, and clothes .washers up to 50 percent less energy than standard models. Look for products with the Energy Star logo. Efk River Municipal Utilities pro- vides the following rebates an Energy Star rated appli- ances •Central Air Conditioners, .varies depending on SEER - contact us for details! •Room Air Conditioners, $30 •Air Source Heat Pumps, $150 per ton •Ground Source Heat Pumps, $200 per ton •Dehumidifiers, $30 •Dishwashers, $50 •Refi•igerators, $50 •Clothes Washers, $75 Additional energy efficiency incentives are available In addition to the Energy Star appliance rebates, we offer. these. incentives: •Compact fluorescent lamp rebate of $4. •Central .Air Conditioner tune-up rebate of $60. •Electric cycled air con- ditioning program participa- tion, $40 per cooling sea- son. Water Heaters are riot Energy Star rated, but we give a $50 rebate toward the purchase of an electric water heater. with an energy factor of .91 or higher when used in our off-peak water heating program. For commercial rebate and grant "programs, call our energy ervice professionals at 441-2020. Home monitoring system grows; sees first rate change in 17 years Elk River Municipal. Utilities already provides you effi- cient, reliable utility. service. We have also been install- ; ing and: servicing security :systems since 1990. Our security system business has grown over the years and we offer you the lowest monitoring charges that you will find anywhere. To make it easier for all our customers to manage billings and services, we will be billing all monitoring and service calls along with utili- ties on one bill. This consoli- dation of bills will take place in February 2008. Also, to keep pace with supply cost increases, we are changing our monitoring charges for the first time in 17 years. Monthly charges for burglar, fire, radio and med-alert monitoring each increase $1.75 per month. Call 441-2020' ahd we will send a qualified security... expert to your home to assist you in designing a security system that's exactly right for you. Call today to sched- ule afree home evaluation. Check processing changes here due to federal 'Check 2t' law Paying by check isn't what it used to be. Many people find it inconvenient. And in part due to the federal `Check 21' law, Elk River Municipal Utilities is tak- ing steps to electronically process paper checks on a daily basis. This will reduce, if not eliminate, check `float.' We also offer other payment options. The most efficient payment option is automatic with- drawal. With your permis- sion, we notify the bank of what you owe us monthly. The bank will withdraw that amouht out of your account automatically on the 15th day of the month. The money is then deposited into our account. You receive your regular bill stamped 'paid,' so you have a payment and usage record. This service is con- venient for you and saves us time and money. Call us at 765-2491 to participate in this popular program. For your convenience, we also have payment drop boxes at the post office and the utility office. Power supplier's growth spurs electric rate increases Our wholesale power sup- plier-Great River Energy- is the fastest growing util- ity in the state, and building facilities to serve that growth is expensive. Because of a 10.7 per- cent increase in the cost of power we buy from GRE, we have to increase our retail rates. We are passing along only 7.2 percent increase to our retail customers. The new rates will show up on February bills. The reason for GRE's wholesale rate increase is the construction of new facil- ities, especially power plants to satisfy ever-increasing electric needs. Recently- built power plants fueled by gas instead of coal are also susceptible to the volatile gas market. Our monthly customer charge, to .help cover our fixed costs; remains at $7.50 for residential customers and $16.00 for commercial- industrial customers. New electric rates .Residential kilowatt-hour charge May-Sept. • Oct.-April 10 cents 8.48 cents Off-peak kWh rate: 4.3 cents Commercial kilowatt-hour charge May-Sept. Oct.-April 9.73 cents 7,54 cents Industrial demand charge May-Sept. Oct.-April $10.66 >$14.98 Industrial kilowatt-hour charge: 4.542 cents Water rates { "~ Demand for water,' espe- w' cialty heavy lawn .sprinkling in the summer, is driving the average 6.0 percent increase in water rates. The aver- age residential customer uses 5,000 to 6,000 gallons of water per month in the winter. In the summer, the average consumption has increased to over 24,000 ' gallons per month. The rate increase varies " depending on customer usage, with heavier users paying higher percentage increases. The rate structure, charg- ing ahigher rate for higher usage, is part of our water conservation ,.plan and is strongly recommended by the state of Minnesota. Ground water„ `particularly from the sole aquifer under- lying EIk River, is a valuable natural resource. This water is neither free nor inexhaust- ible. It is our most precious natural resource and must be protected and conserved. New residential water rates Monthly charge: $6.50 Monthly price pei- 1,000 gallons, up to 9,000 gallons: $1.50 per 1, 000 gallons Monthly price per: gallon if over 9,000 gallons used:. $3.50 per 1,000 gallons. Monthly price per gallon if over 15,000 gallons used: $4.00 per 1, 000 gallons We are reliable! Elk River Municipal Utilities has provided very reliable service over the years, but in 2007 our reliability numbers improved even more. Minnesota taw requires utilities to track reliability in regards to three measures. To make a long .story short, an ERMU customer, accord- ing to our most recent reli- ability measurements, can expect a 63 minute outage every nine years. If you have any .service questions, call us at 441- 2020.