Utility Billing Error

During a recent internal audit of utility customer accounts, an error was discovered in the calculation of the “power cost adjustment” (PCA) billing resulting in an overcharge to customers. The PCA is an adjustment made to your electric bill each month to reflect fluctuations in the true cost of power purchased and/or the cost of power generation by the City of Falls City. We have investigated the error and determined the incorrect base cost for power production was utilized in calculating the PCA beginning when the new utility rates became effective on October 1, 2022 as set forth in Ordinance 2022-106. The PCA calculation is performed manually each billing cycle and then entered into the city’s utility billing software. Unfortunately, the manual calculation was incorrect, and the current checks/balances process did not catch the error resulting in an overcharge to our customers for electrical power consumed. To correct the mistake, utility customers will receive a credit on the next billing cycle in February for utility bills due by March 15, 2023. The amount of credit will vary depending upon the total kilowatt hours (kWh) consumed by the customer between October 1, 2022 to January 15, 2023. The credit will be applied directly to customer accounts in February and will carry forward until the credit is used. Please note, the credit cannot be utilized for the January billing cycle that is due by February 15, 2023 due to timing of the credit posting. A revision to our Standard Operating Procedures adding additional layers of check and balances will be implemented to ensure this error does not occur in the future. The City of Falls City considers transparency with our citizens of utmost importance, and we apologize for any confusion and inconvenience this issue caused.