Electric Bills Shoot Up In Oglesby

For the second time in under a year, electric bills are going up in Oglesby.

The Oglesby City Council passed an updated electrical rate ordinance that adds a cent and a half charge per kilowatt to monthly bills.  This means ten or more dollars a month extra for electricity.  The new rate goes into effect in January.  It could mean around 330 thousand dollars in extra revenue next year for Oglesby.

Electric Commissioner Dom Rivara says nobody likes to raise rates but without doing it the electric department would be broke in two years.  The city council just raised electric rates in May.

The council paid a consultant out of Missouri almost 20 thousand dollars to do a rate study which is leading to the higher bills.