MLGW customers react after proposed 12% increase to electricity bills over 3 years - FOX13 Memphis

MLGW customers react after proposed 12% increase to electricity bills over 3 years | News | fox13memphis.com

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Like thousands across Memphis, Jeannie Whitney must choose which bills will and won’t get paid.

“I got either medicine or MLGW,” she told FOX13. “This is where I’m at, at this point now. And MLGW is more than my medicine.”

On Wednesday, Doug McGowen, the president and CEO of Memphis, Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) proposed a 12% rate hike over three years, starting in 2024.

“Give us a break,” Whitney said. “Give the working man a break.”

“An increase could devastate the community economically because wages haven’t increased in years,” said Hope Johnson, an Uptown Memphis resident. “People are just still paying for their bills with what they currently have.”

“I'm spending a lot more money on electricity than I used to,” said Sean Brown, a Cooper Young resident. “I’m a college student.”

FOX13 asked McGowen if staffers believe Shelby County residents can afford an increase.

“There are customers who we know struggle,” McGowen said. “That's why we have a pretty aggressive utility assistance program here.”

The utility company had previously asked for a 10.5% over three years to start in 2025. However, the company is pushing to modernize the grid as quickly as possible.

The increase is not a done deal yet: MLGW board commissioners still must vote on the proposal Oct. 18.

Then, the Memphis City Council will have to sign off on a rate hike in a meeting scheduled for Nov. 21.

After a year of power outages and billing errors, FOX13 asked for assurance that the budget would prevent more interruptions in service.

“There are no guarantees,” McGowen said. “But the aggressive program of improvements that we are forecasting for electric system is our best path forward.”

“The big man up top? Can he give us one year of his salary?” Whitney asked.

MLGW officials presented on Wednesday a $1.2 billion budget for next year to its board of commissioners that included the proposed 12% rate hike on electricity by 2026.

Officials said that the increase equates to about $5 more in monthly payments.

There are no increases for customers' water or gas calculated in the budget.

McGowen told the board that the budget contains expenditures to address significant operational upgrades, including modernizing the utility company's grid, increasing capabilities to meet growing demand for electricity and reducing outages via multiple tactics.

McGowen called the planned improvements "transformational" for the utility company after several years of neglecting to upgrade outdated systems.

Several board members described the plan as "forward thinking."
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