LUB addressed by citizen over electricity costs

‘Nearly one in five residents in this county are below the poverty line’- Sonya Lee

By Charlotte Underwood

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- The LaFollette Utility Board heard from “LaFollette Utility Customer” Sonya Lee at its Monday evening meeting. She spoke to the board about the high costs of electricity and said that “families in the community are struggling.”

She thanked the board for keeping the power on and for keeping infrastructure up but also said that the “burden of the current rate structure are felt deeply across the county.”

“Nearly one in five residents in this county are below the poverty line and a significant portion of our population is over 65, many survive on fixed Social Security income, we have high disability rates, single income households and working families that are already stretched thin. When the electric bills rise sharply, it is not only an inconvenience, it becomes a crisis,” Lee said, adding that people were having to make hard choices on whether to “keep the heat on or buy groceries or keep the heat on or buy medicine.”

“I am asking the board to reconsider the current rate structure … “Lee said. She suggested programs that are used by other utilities such as “structured affordability program for low-income households. She also asked for the utility’s “monthly point of service fee and base energy charges reflect the economic reality of this rural community.”

LUB General Manager Regina Kennedy and board members thanked her for her comments and for attending the meeting.

Kennedy also spoke briefly, saying that the utility was “under the Tennessee Valley Authority’s regulations and was under their rules.”

She also went over some of the programs the utility does offer currently.

“We do offer payment arrangements to customers to keep the heat on. We also have budget billing, which takes the average and spreads it out by 12 months to balance and help customers and thirdly we have our Caring Neighbors program with a separate board, that goes over that monthly. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-02/24/2024-6AM)