BERLIN – The Town of Berlin’s electric customers are expected to see a 3-percent drop in rates with the municipality’s new purchase power agreement.
The agreement, which runs from June 2015 to December 2017, means the town’s power costs will drop from 6.39 cents to 5.95 cents per kilowatt hour.
“That savings goes directly to our customers and will continue to keep the Town of Berlin’s electric rates below both Delmarva Power and Choptank Electric Cooperative in this region,” Mayor Gee Williams said.
Williams said the decreased rates were made possible because the town joined American Municipal Power (AMP), a nonprofit made up of 132 municipal power providers, earlier this year.
“As a result, we were able to take advantage of their bulk purchasing power as well as a drop in energy prices the market is experiencing at this time,” he said.
Though the town’s electric rates have been a hot topic in the past, concern among residents has declined as Berlin’s rates have dropped to the level of those offered by nearby companies. The reduction came only after years of work with a consultant and an appeal to the state’s Public Service Commission to lower commercial rates.
While rates now are where many feel they should be, residents want to make sure they stay that way. Several citizens stressed importance of maintaining affordable utility rates during the town’s recent strategic planning sessions.
“This is one way we’re addressing that concern,” Williams said.
Councilman Troy Purnell spent years tracking the town’s electric rates and comparing them to those of Delmarva Power and Choptank Electric, two utility companies that provide power to community residents out of town limits. He stopped when he realized Berlin’s rates were the lowest month after month.
“It kept showing the same thing,” he said.
Purnell gets frustrated hearing from residents who complain about the town’s taxes and electric rates.
“We’re doing everything we can,” he said. “It’s the one place in the world that’s lowered taxes and went to the Public Service Commission and lobbied for lower [electric] rates. Nobody does that.”
He credits dedicated town staff and the council’s decision to work with consulting firm Booth and Associates with getting rates down.
“We had to learn a lot,” he said.