MEMPHIS, Tenn — In tonight’s Ransom Note: reality check.
One argument we hear a lot about why MLGW should keep buying its electricity from the Tennessee Valley Authority is that we already enjoy some of the cheapest utility costs in the country.
Except we don’t.
A new report by Filterbuy ranked cities with the highest utility bills in the US. A bigger deal since the pandemic because we’re spending so much more time at home.
Our metro area’s average bill is 253 dollars a month, placing us 14th our of 238 metro areas ranked.
In our region, only Birmingham, Dallas, and Louisville were higher.
The survey not only shows what our electricity, gas and water bills are, but also how much of our paychecks are spent on utilities.
We have to spend way too much of our total housing costs, 26 percent in fact, to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
The percentage is so high in part because of our high poverty rate and too many homes are energy efficient.
So the next time TVA tries to convince us we really wouldn’t benefit all that much as a community by saving 450 million dollars on electricity, someone needs to remind them how much we’re spending now.
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