"We're losing 33 percent of our Colorado Basin power," Bountiful council member Fred Moss said in a public meeting to discuss city priorities for the 2004 - 05 year.
"We won't be able to avoid a 7-10 percent increase in power costs."
Moss explained that much of the power that Bountiful Power receives will become more expensive due to decreased flow rates through power turbines at hydroelectric dams.
Bountiful City Light & Power, a municipal utility owned by the residents of Bountiful, receives 60 percent of its power from hydroelectric sources. And as unbelievable as it might seem to a snow-laden Davis County, the deep snow isn't as widespread as it might seem.
The Colorado Basin, a geographic area that covers parts of Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, California and some of Mexico, is, on average, still firmly in drought.
The precipitation in the basin keeps the reservoirs of Glen Canyon Dam, Flaming Gorge Dam, Pineview Dam, Echo Dam and others full. These dams supply much of Bountiful City Light & Power's energy.
Two of the dams, Glen Canyon and Flaming Gorge which together supply most of Bountiful City Light & Power's water-generated electricity, have been hardest hit by the drought. Echo and Pineview, more closely aligned with snow-blanketed Davis County, are faring much better.
According to Moss, the drought has led to a decrease in water output from the dams. This means the generators won't spin at full capacity, reducing power output and raising the cost per unit of power. "It's a supply and demand issue," said Moss.
Additionally, there's still cost for operating the dams, a cost that doesn't fluctuate with the water levels and power output.
This costly discrepancy gets passed on to customers of the utilities.
According to Clifford Michaelis, director of Bountiful City Light & Power, customers could likely see a rate increase at the start of Bountiful's July 1 fiscal year. The actual increases began last October, but so far Bountiful City Light & Power has not had to increase its prices.
"We've already seen the increases in our own costs," Michaelis said, "and eventually we'll have to pass on those costs."
Michaelis said that the rates could remain higher until the drought ends.
"We're entering the fifth year of the drought," Michaelis said, and he guessed it would take approximately the same amount of time to fully recover from the drought. He also hoped that the filling reservoirs at Echo and Pineview would help lower costs.
"It would help, even though they are small," he said of the two dams.
"All we can do is pray for rain."
Moss, however, stressed that the rate increase "is not a done deal."
"We'll do everything we can to avoid raising the rates," he said.
"We're looking around to see if there are any things we can postpone or do more efficiently."
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