Category: Board of Public Utilities

Voting for utility rate increases was very painful. It was almost a perfect storm of events that backed us into a corner. There had not been a utility rate increase for a number of years. There was a year where it cost us over ten million dollars more than what we took in, and the cost of materials skyrocketed after Covid. We were faced with replenishing the reserve funds that we so heavily borrowed from, as well as the increased cost of materials to maintain the infrastructure.

There was a good deal of discussion on all of these issues. In the end, the board, as well as myself, begrudgingly voted to increase rates.

I voted no on entering into a contract with Foxtail Flats solar, and I voted no on the demand charge for electrical services.
I voted no on Foxtail Flats because there were too many unanswered questions. Thecontract is for Los Alamos County to purchase 100% of the power from Foxtail Flats,
whether we use it or not. We can sell it, but to whom? And whatever we sell, we might have to sell at a loss.

I voted no on the demand charges because I thought the rate increases were enough. The demand charges are meant to upgrade the infrastructure as people start
transitioning from gas to electric. But I find it rather odd that the County is encouraging people to switch to electric and then turning around and charging them for using more electricity.

The utility rate increases represent almost 20% since 2022. That’s quite a bit. Inflation since 2022 counts for about 14.6%, so the rate increases are still 5% over inflation. Still, it’s a lot.

Eric Stromberg

Gas vs. Electric;  It’s Your Choice  by Eric Stromberg, 2026 Candidate for Los Alamos County Council

Years ago, when the county developed its Climate Action Plan, there was an idea of trying to get the community to change their gas appliances to electric. The current thinking is that, if electricity gets cheaper and gas gets more expensive, people will
naturally switch as time goes by. People will switch naturally. When appliances need to be replaced, people might opt to go electric at that point. If a gas boiler for a furnace system needs to be replaced, people might opt for a heat-pump that will also provide air conditioning. Currently, natural gas still has a lower carbon footprint than electric.

The County’s hope is that the electrical supply from Foxtail Flats Solar, when it comes online in 2027, will change this and that the electrical supply will then have a lower carbon footprint than natural gas. Of course, there are many things to consider. If your house is all electric, what happens when the power fails? Everything stops. No
heat, no air-conditioning, no hot water, no cooking. If a generator is used, it would have to be a fairly large generator to power those loads. 

If a house uses gas for heating, cooking, and hot water, a fairly small generator could be used to supply power to the house. But if anything is used as a backup source for the home, battery or generator, it requires an expensive reworking of the home’s electrical system because a transfer switch has to be installed that will disconnect the home from the grid while the backup is being used.

The Los Alamos County Department of Public Utilities has recently added a demand charge. Electrical power is not used consistently throughout the month. Each hour of the 720 hours in a month are monitored and the hour that has the highest usage in Kilowatts is
used to add one dollar per kilowatt on top of your regular utility bill. As an example, if your bill is $250 for the energy used, and your maximum power draw was 20 kilowatts, 20 dollars will be added to the bill, making the total $270.  The County is asking people to switch from gas to electric and then charges them extra for using more electricity.   I voted against this demand charge.

Ultimately, residents must decide whether to switch to electric or remain with gas.  

I do not support our County’s forcing our businesses and residents to convert from natural gas to electric appliances.

Contact me at eric@electstromberg.com

Utility Rates:   Many citizens are asking the following questions:  

Why are they going up?

Why is there a profit transfer from utilities to the general fund?

What is the demand charge and why is this being added to my bill?

Costs for pretty much everything have been rising.  Gas, groceries, items at the hardware store, you name it.  As far as utilities go, the cost of the commodities that the department buys have been increasing.  The cost of labor is increasing, and the cost of materials has been increasing.  Not too many years ago, the Department of Public Utilities spent more than the revenues brought in, to the tune of ten million dollars or so.  They couldn’t collect as much as they spent because some of the utility rates were capped by statute.  Although the Department of Public Utilities has reserve funds that are for this purpose, the funds are mandated to be at a certain level.  The extra money that the DPU spent depleted these founds and the DPU began strategizing how to both replenish these funds and to pay for the increased cost of the commodities going forward. The DPU, as with any business for that matter, cannot exist if it spends more money than what it receives.

To make matters more confusing, there is something called a “profit transfer” that occurs.  This is a transfer from the utility accounts to the general fund.  I have asked about this and it has been described as a franchise fee.  It was further explained that this money is returned to the DPU for utility capital projects.  Nevertheless, on the surface, it doesn’t look good.  It looks like the DPU is making so much money that they have to transfer the extra money to the General Fund.  If this is the case, why would the DPU have to raise rates to be sustainable? 

The Board of Public Utilities recently voted to do away with the “Profit Transfer” because it does not accurately describe the situation.  Will it change anything?  No, because this money will now be spent on capital projects directly instead of going to the general fund and then being returned to the utility department.  I recommend that citizens vote YES on Ordinance 758, to remove “profit transfer” from the County Charter.

Customers will start seeing a “Demand Charge” on their electricity bills.  The “Demand” is the peak electricity usage, averaged over a one-hour period, for the month.  For example, a 30-day month consists of 720 hours.   Each of these 720 segments will have a power draw associated with it.  During the night, or when people are at work, the electrical draw will be pretty low.  If a family has a car charger, the demand of the car charger could be around 20kW.  If this car charger is on for one hour, and there are other loads that add up to 5kW for that same hour, the demand is 25kW.  The demand charge is $1 for each kW in the highest one-hour period.  In the above example, a $25 demand charge would be applied over and above the monthly electricity bill.  I voted against the Demand Charge, but it passed. 

Dear Friends:
I have been a part of the Los Alamos community for 13 years and work at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. For six of those years I have served on the Board of Public Utilities, so I am familiar with County government. Los Alamos is a special town with great people, but I am concerned that our County Council is only hearing from a small part of the community. With that in mind, I have decided to run for County Council, with hopes to represent a greater portion of the community.

It is a challenge to communicate all that the County is involved in. They have a website with lots of information, published agendas, and studies from consultants, but information that is relevant to the community often gets buried and is difficult to find. More often than not, the County makes a decision and the community learns about it later on. Examples include the new electricity demand charges that the Council passed (and I opposed), the Trinity Road Diet, and the $2.1M camera surveillance system.

I want to hear from the people of Los Alamos concerning what is most important to the community. I look at issues with a very broad perspective. We don’t solve problems, we trade problems. Every issue and proposed solution needs to be weighed for unintended consequences.

If I am elected to County Council, I will:

1. Vote against initiatives where the Council is trying to dictate how people live.
2. Question unfunded and intrusive County mandates
3. Work with the building office to create a more fair and consistent permit process.
4. Oppose unnecessary increases in taxes, fees, or rates.
5. Represent, communicate with, and engage the larger community for Council decisions.
6. Approach all issues holistically