The Marblehead Municipal Light Department has some good news for its residential customers: Most monthly bills will be going down in January.
While MMLD is raising the fixed monthly charge from $11.25 to $18.25 each month, the energy charge — or the amount per kilowatt-hour — will drop.
The average residential customer uses 662 kilowatt-hours a month and will now be paying $141.90, down from $155.90.
“That’s 9.1% less than a year ago,” said MMLD General Manager Joe Kowalik. “Our cost of energy has gone down because the situation in Europe has kind of stabilized, so the natural gas market has stabilized. Most electricity is generated by natural gas in New England.”
Of the energy MMLD brought into Marblehead last year, 44% was carbon-free (nuclear, hydro, wind and solar). The other 56% is mostly natural gas, Kowalik said.
Light-use customers, who use about 300 kilowatt-hours, will see a 3.3% decrease in their bills. Heavy-use customers, at 1,100 kilowatt-hours, will see their bill drop by 11.5%.
In the black
Kowalik also announced a $2 million operating surplus from January through September.
“We start with cold weather in January and end with cold weather at the end of the year, and there’s always a level of uncertainty,” he explained. “The amount of energy people use is directly related to the weather.”
Kowalik said MMLD typically has a $500,000 surplus this time of year. Any extra money at the end of the calendar year will become operating cash and can be put toward capital projects, including a new substation being built along the Rail Trail.
Two meters?
Finally, Kowalik is urging Marblehead homeowners who have two meters to contact MMLD.
“We live in this wonderful little village of Marblehead, and over the course of the last 130 years, structures you’d expect to have one meter sometimes have two, for a variety of reasons.”
Starting in January, homeowners will be charged $18.25 per meter, and if they happen to have two, they can be rebated for one. He encourages people with two meters to call the MMLD at 781-631-5600 to see if they are eligible for a credit.
