Houston claims that this is her daily routine over the past four years she has lived on Cedar Street. It was therefore a surprise when her July utility bill was $88 higher than her June bill. She said it was higher than usual. She was charged for a 35-day period, six days more than her usual. “I haven’t done anything different… I bought a window AC conditioner, and [haven’t] been burning that window AC conditioner out on my porch. She said that certain months, the bills take a huge jump. “We are living paycheck to paycheck, and some people only get one check per month. Houston isn’t the only one experiencing sticker shock from utility bills. Clarksdale residents have complained about their higher bills all summer by filling out Clarksdale Public Utilities Commission Board meetings. The CPU officials counter the complaints by stating that the bills are not unusual considering the unusually hot summer. However, these bills are not expected to drop anytime soon. After completing a study by Jackson’s BKD, LLP, the public utility will consider a rate hike. The study is estimated to cost $15,900. Another Clarksdale ratepayer, George Fields, also echoed Houston’s sentiments. He explained his problem with the “unfair billing cycle.” According to Fields, there are many people who don’t get paid until their bills are due. Fields stated that it was unfair for some people to receive utility bills at the end of each month. Some of these people don’t have enough money to pay their bill by the third or first month. But you stop their utilities the day they receive their resources. According to the CPU statement policy, there are five billing cycles. Customers must pay their bills within one week of the due date, or they will lose their utilities and have to pay late fees. CPU offers multiple services, including water, electricity, sewer, mosquito and refuse. Customers are forced to pay extra fees if water meters, which are different from electric meters are not read on-time. In the past, CPU had contracted with Baker Engineering, Inc. for four employees to read water meters and electric meters. CPU has now hired three employees to only read water meters since the contract expired. Jim Hemphill is the interim general manager and CEO at Victor Group in Starkville. He said that reading water meters can be difficult but they are trying to solve this problem. The new smart meters could be the cause. There have been many customer complaints about the recent installation new electric meters. However, CPU officials claim that the meters are more efficient and have not caused an increase in prices. At a July 15, 2017, meeting, the utility purchased 6,556 Advanced Metering Infrastructure (or AMI smart meters) from Eaton Corporation. This power management company is based in Minnesota. It paid $1.3 million. Hemphill said that the utility used the excess revenue it had accumulated over the years to purchase the smart meters. After two years of testing the meters, officials believe that efficiency and accuracy were their main reasons for buying new meters. Officials said that being able to monitor customers’ real-time consumption, including hourly, daily, and monthly, in the office can help customers save time and give them answers right away. This is in contrast to having to wait for a “foot soldier”, who may take up to two days to reread meters. The AMI system allows ratepayers to communicate with the utility company in two ways. The smart meter can collect precise data about electricity consumption and transmit it to the utility company to be billed and monitored digitally. CPU also bought MultiSpeak Specification, which makes it much easier to collect data and send it to the billing software used by the company. Residents suggested that the higher bills could be due to the new electric meters. Officials say the meters have been installed but are not currently operational. They are verifying the meters and checking to make sure the data is correctly transferred to the billing cycle. Hemphill anticipates that they will flip the switch within 10 to 15 working days. Hemphill stated that they have had a very hot summer and high humidity. It takes a lot to run air conditioning. Parents may be at work, while the children may be home. They may not be as careful about keeping the temperature set right or keeping doors open. “And that could absolutely lead to a higher bill.” But data shows that temperatures have not increased in Mississippi during the summer months. The average June temperature increase was about 4 degrees over last year. The temperature increases thereafter were negligible. It fell by 0.2 degrees in July. According to data from National Center for Environmental Information, August temperatures rose by 0.2 degrees. Ray Sykes, a Clarksdale resident who was a former mayoral candidate, said that “When people meet to discuss or discuss the topic, a lot times [CPU] tells them, ‘Why don’t you turn down your thermostat?'” at an August 28 CPU meeting. “Here’s a problem in Clarksdale: when it gets hot people automatically turn down their thermostats because they don’t want to pay a high bill.” However, residential rates at the utility company are lower than the national and state averages and have not increased since 2014. According to the U.S Energy Information Administration, the residential rate for CPU is currently 8.92 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). Mississippi’s average rate, 12.07 cents per kWh, and the U.S average rate, 13.5 cents. According to the 2014 rate study, CPU residential rates were $7.79 in 2011 and $8.34 in 2012. What is the future? Although CPU officials have not discussed changing the billing cycle, they did mention other options that customers have for paying their bills, such as levelized billing, picking their own due dates, setting a payment extension, and getting a payment extension. Shelia Profit, senior accountant at the utility company, stated that only 300 customers have selected the “pick your due date” option. These options come with additional fees. There is an initial $10 fee for registration fees if a customer wants to choose their own due date. Clarksdale isn’t alone in being frustrated by high bills. Jackson residents are required to pay water bills for months because they haven’t received them in months. This is a loss of revenue that costs the city $20 million, according to the Clarion Ledger. In August, Holly Springs, Ark community members attended a town hall meeting to address concerns over high water bills. A local Memphis news station reported that residents attended a town meeting to discuss concerns about high bills. Residents are anticipating bigger bills next year as bills have risen this summer. The members of the commission approved their 2019 budget at a September 11 meeting. The utility forecasted a $2 million increase in revenues for electric, water and sewer services. The fuel adjustments rates are being reviewed, which will also impact revenues. These rates are based on fluctuations in natural gas prices. The utility pays Cleco Power LLC for the power they buy. This rate is then passed to customers. Profit, the senior accountant at the utility, stated that the utility’s revenue growth is dependent on the completion of a new rate study, which they expect will be complete soon. Residents in a city with a median annual income of $29,000 claim they cannot afford to pay more. Sykes stated, “What is important for the city is that if I look at income across the city it’s the little man with the high bill.” Sykes said, “It’s not like he doesn’t want to make payments for what he owes. But he won’t make the extra payment if it is excessive.”_x000D