Liberty proposes $59 per month increase for northeast Oklahoma electric bills
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Northeast Oklahoma Liberty Utilities customers could eventually be paying about $700 more a year for electricity.
Liberty is asking Oklahoma regulators for a two-step rate increase.
Liberty’s own numbers show an average residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month could eventually pay about $59 more every month than today.
That works out like this: the current estimated bill is $160.67.
Liberty proposes raising it to about $190.18 in year one — an 18% increase — then to $219.69 in year two, another 15.5% increase.
From today’s bill to the fully phased-in bill, that is about a 36.7% increase, or roughly $708 more per year for the same 1,000-kWh monthly usage.
Liberty says it needs the additional revenue after investing more than 31 million dollars in its Oklahoma electric system.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has not given final approval.
Rate hikes are not new to area residents.
Missouri Liberty customers just saw new rates take effect Aug. 3, with a typical 1,000-kWh residential bill projected to rise about 16% over three years — from roughly $160 to $186 a month.
Kansas Liberty customers were hit beginning Aug. 1, with the typical 1,000-kWh bill expected to climb about 20.5% over two years — from about $135 to $163 a month.
