SHELBY COUNTY, Tennessee — MLGW’s recent proposal to hike what you pay for electricity every month by 12 percent is up for vote soon, but the utility is running into some resistance.
Watchdog group 21st century Memphis or Bust is frustrated with those changes and held a community meeting on Friday to try and form a united front against them.
“These rates are going forever and ever. It’s not like they do a special rate increase for the capital expenditures and then they come back down. It’s forever and ever,” said member Joe Kent.
At a city council meeting earlier this month, MLGW president Doug McGowen said the city needs the money for grid modernization, tree trimming and more manpower. MLGW estimates the average customer's bill would go up $15 a month.
“As we saw this spring, every single time the power goes out for more than four hours, that family loses an entire refrigerator full of groceries. That means something to all of us every day. That's what we are trying to repair; you ought to be able to count on us,” McGowen said on Nov. 7.
When combined with previous rate hikes in 2021, the new number would mean a 25% rate increase relative to 2020.
“We think this rate hike can be delayed if not totally eliminated with a forensic audit to tell us where the money’s gone,” Kent said.
The next council meeting where this is expected to go to vote will be on Dec. 5.
“We want our infrastructure updated just like everybody else does. We’ve paid that money already, and we’d like to see what they do with that money first before we pay and give them more rate increases,” Kent said.