NUPUC approves 2010 fees
By Ron Larsen, Staff WriterNEW ULM - Customers will see very little change in New Ulm Public Utilities' fees and charges schedule for 2010, as adopted by the New Ulm Public Utilities Commission Tuesday.
The changes that were made are limited mostly to clarification of language concerning electrical rebates to the customer and/or contractor and a few wastewater treatment fees.
A fee of $225 will be charged for new or upgraded or converted residential service, up to 200 amp and less than 50 feet. The charge for new/ upgraded/converted commercial/industrial service is time and material, less metering equipment.
Customers relocating their electric meter from inside to outside of the house are entitled to a $425 reimbursement to help pay the cost of hiring an electrician to move the meter. If the customer has additional meters to be moved outside, the rebate will be $200 per meter. With a customer installed disconnect meter combination the rebate is $465. There's also a $40 rebate for contractor supplied meter trim.
On the wastewater treatment side, the one-time septic tank hauler drop fee for 1,500 gallons or less increases from $35 to $45. Other rates were increased about 10 percent, Director Gary Gleisner said. The Wis-Pak of Mankato Inc. rate now will be $0.0726 per gallon.
Other approved customer treatment services include Watonwan County Landfill $40 disposal fee, $0.0605 per gallon; Lakefield Junction $50 disposal fee, $0.0039 per gallon.
The commission also received notice from the Minnesota Department of Health that analyses conducted by the department August 10, 2009 on water samples collected from the City of New Ulm municipal water supply found that "no contaminants were detected in the city's water supply."
Gleisner also reported that electric distribution crews have removed the overhead lines and poles along Fifth North Street and North Highland Avenue to U.S. Highway 14, "completing the first part of a two-year system upgrade."
And, through 10 months of operations this year, the utility is showing a net margin after in Lieu of Taxes of $2,131,631 on revenues totaling $32,420,676 which is 74.2 percent of the annual budget amount of $43,720,552, Gleisner reported. The net margin is nearly two and a half times the budgeted $862,278 net margin for the 10-month period.
