LAFAYETTE, La. ( KLFY ) — Crawfish prices aren’t the only thing being impacted by this summer’s drought. People with SLEMCO are seeing increases in their energy bills.
Customers will be paying an extra ten to thirty dollars per month. The good news, however, SLEMCO Communications Coordinator Mary Laurent said the extra costs are only temporary. SLEMCO customers will only be paying the extra money for the next year.
Lafayette transit riders experiencing long wait times
“The reason for the increase is because in November and December, the water levels on the Mississippi river caused the transportation of the coal that’s used to generate the power that we provide to people, that cost was up greatly. That’s because of the fact that the water levels were down, so they needed to get more coal barges and river pilots and, you know, tugboats and all that kind of stuff,” Laurent said.
Laurent explains SLEMCO was billed for those extra fuel costs at the end of 2023. Now, they need to recoup those costs. Instead of hitting customers with one massive bill, SLEMCO created a year-long plan.