Kimball’s electricity rate rising due to WAPA increase

KIMBALL -- The Board of Public Works voted in its meeting Tuesday night to raise the electricity rate by 2.1% going into effect January 25, 2025. 

This increase is based on the city’s power supplier Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) raising their electricity rate by 8.8%. 

“The Board of Public Works was able to figure out a way to only raise the rate by 2.1%,” said Mayor John Morrison. 

According to City Administrator Annette Brower, this will cause an increase of $0.46 on the monthly residential base charge and an average of $1.35 per month depending on the customer’s usage. 

The City Council has no input with the Board of Public Works other than that they oversee their budget, Morrison said. If the board wants to spend anything over $25,000, then the council needs to approve that. 

Kimball is unique in the fact that the community handles its own utilities instead of contracting it out, which Morrison said would be more expensive to do that. The city is also a founding member of the Municiple Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN), a non-profit wholesale power supplier that provides wholesale electricity and related services to its participating communities. 

“It has been a real asset to Kimball because they keep our electric rates down,” Morrison said.  

The Board of Public Works was created to look at electricity, waste, water and landfill and figure out how to make money from each of those areas and make the board money, since it is completely funded by fees and not taxes. 

“In the past, the electricity department paid for everything; we weren’t paying enough for water or sewer and still aren’t paying enough for landfill, but they understand that people can only afford so much,” Morrison said. “That’s why they did the 2%, and that’s why in the past we’ve seen some rate increases on trash hauling and water and sewer.”