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HOGANSVILLE – Hogansville residents may see a slight credit on their power bills this summer due to the city of Hogansville purchasing too much power.

Each year, the City of Hogansville receives a “year-end” settlement form from the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG). The city forecasts the amount of power it will need to purchase from MEAG, Hogansville City Manager Jonathan Lynn explained.

Last year, the city of Hogansville projected it would begin to see anticipated population growth and purchased additional power to accommodate for the addition in housing it would need.

This year, the city of Hogansville received a settlement statement from MEAG in the amount of $194,307, meaning the city purchased too much power, Lynn explained. 

“That 259% increase is due to the projected growth in residential areas that did not happen this year,” he said.

The Hogansville City Council voted to allow MEAG to credit $100,000 of the $194,307 into 10 installments of $10,000/month. For the remaining $94,307, the city would then issue a one-time credit on an upcoming utility bill to each electricity customer in the city of Hogansville for a one-time credit of roughly $62.

“[The credit will go through] probably sometime in early summer when we know the power bills start going back up,” Lynn said. “That still allows us to have a $10,000 credit for 10 months with MEAG. It does provide that money back to the citizens, who may have to cover the cost of that.”

As the expectation of growth continues, Lynn said the city will continue to project its energy needs as it does every year.

“I think we will have to project about the same as we did last year,” he said. “But if we need more than we project … it’s much cheaper if we project ahead and then come back. That’s probably the most conservative way to do this, but I don’t know of any other way to do it without encumbering a large expense should we need more power.”

Lynn said he was expecting an estimated 500 to 600 housing units to be built in Hogansville in the next year or so, which would stimulate the needed amount of power.

In other business at the meeting:

The council updated the Hogansville Police Departments’ current Mutual Aid Agreement with LaGrange Police Department, the Troup County Sheriff’s Office, the Troup County Marshal’s Office and West Point Police Department.

This agreement states that surrounding police departments may aid HPD in requests for service for violations of law or in other incidents where police backup is needed. Hogansville Police Chief Jeff Sheppard said HPD often requests backup for surrounding police departments and has also assisted them in events such as funeral processions.