The Turlock Irrigation District Board met Dec. 9 to approve the 2015 budget, which includes a series of rate increases and on Tuesday the board will meet again to vote on a series of amendments to those changes.
The budget, which is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2015, includes a 2 percent increase for nearly all 98,000 electricity customers in effort to offset a projected revenue shortfall of $17 million.
One of the changes pertains to customers who have had their checks returned in excess of two times under Rule 9. In addition to the $25 fee for each returned check that, with the amendment, the customer will be required to pay their bill on a cash only basis for a period of 12 months.
Under Rule 15, there is a line extension free footage that is reduced from a maximum of 5,000 feet down to 1,000 feet; overhead extension payment refunds are eliminated. Of note, for line extensions outside of the District’s territory, there is no line extension free footage for the customer.
There is a provision for existing customers on the RNT and NNT rate schedules, which are closed to new customers, but would allow them to increase their generation by limited amounts under the proposed change to Rule 22.
The closed RNT rate schedule applies to residential or small commercial customers who use a solar or wind turbine electrical generating facility, or a hybrid of both. The capacity cannot be more than one megawatt and must be located on the customer’s owned, leased, or rented premises, in parallel with TID’s electric grid with the intention of offsetting customer electrical requirements. Though the District does provide electricity to the customers often, TID must always be ready to supply any extra needed electrical that a customer requires.
The currently closed NNT schedule is similar in terms of requirements by the District to stand ready to meet customer electrical needs at any given time. It applies to commercial, industrial, or agricultural customers, who use a Renewable Electrical Generating Facility with a capacity of not more than one megawatt that is located on the customer’s owned, leased, or rented premises, is interconnected and operates in parallel with the District’s electric grid with the intention of offsetting their electrical needs.
This rate schedule, which is now closed, was available on a first-come-first-served basis to customers until the total rated generating capacity was was exceeded, in accordance with State law.
These customers would be allowed to aggregate their generation against their load at multiple meters on their property, or contiguous properties that they own, lease or rent. The proposed change to the rules sets conditions for aggregation and adds a charge of $1000 to customers wishing to aggregate to the Electric Service Schedule of Charges.
In order to address self-generation, Rule 23 is proposed with the intention of addressing the issue of self-generation. The rule sets requirements for new customers that wish to add generation to operate parallel to the District’s distribution system.
A charge of $600 will be added to the Electric Service Schedule of Charges to to collect for meter upgrading and inspection costs to safely run parallel with self-generation customers.
The TID Board of Directors will meet Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the Board Room of the TID Main Office Building, 333 E. Canal Dr.
