JACKSON APPROVES COST-SAVING CONTRACT FOR CITY'S ELECTRICITY

JACKSON, Mo. -- A new contract to buy off-peak electricity should enable the City of Jackson to keep electric rates stable over the next five years.

Under a new five-year contract with the Ameren Energy Marketing Co., the city will save about $50,000 a month during June, July, August and September compared to its previous contract, Public Works Director Jim Roach told the Jackson Board of Aldermen Tuesday night.

Those savings will be negated by higher costs for labor and diesel fuel and because the city's electric transmission costs are due to double in two years, but that means the city can keep control of its rates, Roach said.

The city has not raised electric rates since 1990.

"I feel very good with what we have," Roach said. "We feel very comfortable with what we have."

The city generates its own electricity but can buy off-peak power from other sources for less than the cost of generating electricity itself. Off-peak power is electricity generated when use is low. Jackson will buy the power from Ameren from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. from June through September.

Jackson will pay $16 a megawatt-hour during the first year, increasing to $18 a megawatt-hour in the last year of the contract. In California, electricity costs run $200 to $400 a megawatt-hour, Roach said.

In other business, the board approved a contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to update the city's flood hazard mapping. The contract will make the city eligible for both federal and state Department of Conservation grants available to study flooding.

"We need to have our floodways mapped," said City Administrator Steve Wilson, noting that the study will be able to take advantage of new technology. The study also will enable the city to identify areas for detention basins.