No rate hike!

Purcell electric customers can breathe a sigh of relief.

According to city manager Dale Bunn, the city has received notice from the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority that there won’t be a rate increase due to the winter storm in February.

That said, Bunn explained, electric bills this month will “likely be higher” due solely to increased electric usage.

OMPA did incur extreme costs during this winter storm,  Bunn explained, but the authority will spread those costs out over several years.

Bunn, who serves on the OMPA board of directors, said OMPA will achieve some savings by refinancing existing debt. That will allow the net cost of the extreme weather event to be financed with existing reserve funds and the repaying the refinanced debt over seven years.