SPEAKOUT

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Berating the rates

I would just like to know this. If Sikeston BMU had not bought the old Bootheel Golf Course, would the electric rates still gone up? I know our electric would go up after that great big building went up and here it goes up again. What are these elderly people gonna do that just have Social Security? I would like to see a profit margin put in the paper for the last five years of the company.

We contacted BMU and this is their reply. The Electric Retail system has had net losses of $22,738,000 over the last five years. (Certified audits are available on our Website or at the BMU office). The Wholesale system has been able to subsidize the Retail rates, but now due to new EPA compliance costs, a depressed wholesale market, the shortage of Debt Service coverage, and a negative outlook from Fitch Rating Service, we can no longer sustain the current rates. The Bootheel property is an asset for Sikeston, not a cost that can never be recovered, with future plans to establish public use and entertainment facilities for both young and old, something Sikeston has needed for a long time. The property is valued at almost twice what the City paid, and the value to Sikeston and the surrounding region could be tremendous. And by the way, even after the rate increase, Sikeston still has one of the lowest rate structures in the State of Missouri.