WM electric sales see-saw with the weather, demand

WM electric sales see-saw with the weather, demand

Utility revenues still up from 2016 figures yearto- date

news@theeveningtimes.com

The amount of electricity running through West Memphis meters this July dropped a quarter-of-a-million dollars compared to 2016. The report comes after the West Memphis Utility Department made a commitment to delivering monthly sales figures to Utility commissioners just last month.

Electric sales numbers have been mixed so far this year. Four months showed an increase over last year, three months, including July were down.

The numbers reported were for residential, commercial, and industrial ac- counts and excluded Public Authority (PA) sales. PA sales remain relatively constant and are billed at a different

rate.

“These figures are for revenue generating accounts,” said Commission chair Dana Parker. “Public authority doesn’t generate a lot of revenue.”

Year to date sales amounted to $14,218,957, up from $13,616,047 a $602,910 increase overall.

July 2016 represented a zenith for the electric department as sales peaked just short of $3,000,000 with a tally of $2,974,384.

The same month this year fell off to $2,729,541 down $244,843.

Utility Manager Todd Pedersen said the sales for electricity are driven by demand for heating and air conditioning. While there were some weeks with weather advisory high temperatures the season has been moderate and followed a mild winter.

“July was down a little bit,” said Pedersen. “It’s weather dependent. July sales and June usage were below normal.”

By John Rech