Commission defers penalty

Benton electric cutomer's bill was reviewed recently by the Public Utilities Commission. Justin Tuberville, 307 Princeton, said his mother and grandmother's bills had been added to his most-recent bill.

He asked if he could get the utilities turned back on.

Sharon Dickerson, his mother, spoke on his behalf and said that she had been trying to pay her past-due bill, but due to medical and other bills, she couldn't continue to pay the past-due utility bill.

Cindy Hawkins, billing department manager, said that there were a couple of different accounts for Dickerson. She said that when Tuberville was disconnected, a local credit bureau found that she did live with Tuberville.

Hawkins said when they were disconnected for non payment, the staff found the meter had been tampered.

She said that they removed the meter from the house and when they went back later to do a followup, a cord had been run from their home to the meter of the home next door.

Hawkins said this meter had been disconnected a while ago, so its meter was also removed.

Tuberville admitted that the meters had been tampered, but he said that he did not do it.

City ordinance calls for the city to charge three times the highest bill in the past 12 months as the penalty for tampering.

The commission voted to defer the penalty until a court settles a pending charge for meter tampering. If found guilty, the penalty will be reinstituted.

In other business, the commission reviewed local industry Almatis' request to buy bulk water. McClelland Engineers has said that Almatis has asked for a reduced rate. City attorney Brent Houston said the city can set a rate for a large commercial user.

Bonds for developers in place of connection fees were discussed. Member Leroy Allen said a couple of months ago, the commission heard developer Darryl Snelling request a variance on the timing for connection fees.

He said the ordinance does not specify a time to collect it.

Flex Net automatic meter reading could provide savings. The proposal will be reviewed.