Lincoln City Council approves LES rate increase to meet new power requirements

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - The Lincoln City Council made a decision on Monday to confirm a rate increase within Lincoln Electric System, 7-0. The decision will raise customer’s bills moving forward, as LES works to meet regulation changes from the Southwest Power Pool, LES’ regional transmission organization.

LES said the SPP’s new rules are aimed at increasing reliability, and require the company to generate more energy. The change came after several severe winter storms like Winter Storm Uri in Texas and Winter Storm Elliott in the northeastern U.S.

LES said customers will see a 4% rate increase to come up with the cost to generate more power.

An LES residential customer, using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month, may see an increase of approximately $4.03 on their monthly bill.

Some at Monday’s city council meeting said the new rate adjustment will hurt people across Lincoln.

City Councilman James Michael Bowers said he originally planned to vote against the proposal, but changed his mind.

“It’s important to remember that this is a regulation that’s being put on us by a higher authority,“ Bowers said. ”If we’re not in compliance, there’s going to be a penalty and that’s going to impact working families more.”

The increase will now go into effect on July 1.

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