Huntsville Utilities names two new vice presidents

William C. Pippin, President/CEO of Huntsville Utilities, is pleased to announce some changes to the executive management team of Huntsville Utilities.  In an effort to improve our ability to provide a valuable resource to the community and increase our customer service focus, Tony Owens has been named Vice President of Operations and John Olshefski has been named Vice President of Customer Care.  Both Mr. Olshefski and Mr. Owens will report to Jay Stowe, who will remain the Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Owens has more than 37 years of service at Huntsville Utilities, having progressed through the management ranks from Chemist-Water Laboratory, to Chief Plant Operator, Construction Manager, Water Supply Superintendent, Water Department Manager and more recently Water Supply Manager.

Owens is looking forward to continuing working closely with the other department managers in the ongoing coordination of projects. Owens holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Auburn.

As a retired Army Colonel with over 30 years of practical operational, logistics and customer related experience, Mr. Olshefski has the skills needed to lead the Customer Care area of Huntsville Utilities.  His last assignment in the U.S. Army was as Garrison Commander at Redstone Arsenal where he was responsible for over 2,000 employees providing support for all activities on the Arsenal.  His background in logistics, planning, managing, and directing various organizations in the Army match well with the customer focused goals of Huntsville Utilities.  He also is very familiar with the community due to his involvement with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closing (BRAC) effort and his role as an ambassador for our region.  Olshefski has a Bachelor of Arts degree from The Citadel, a Master’s degree from Central Michigan, and a Master’s degree from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.

Huntsville Utilities is a publicly owned, not for profit utility serving 173,000 electric, 85,000 water and 46,000 natural gas customers in Madison County, Alabama.

 CONTACT:   HU Public Relations Office

NEWS RELEASE

Monday, January 7, 2013

Huntsville Utilities begins collecting Trash Fees for City of Madison residents

City of Madison residents who live in Madison County will begin receiving their bill for trash collection on their monthly Huntsville Utilities’ bill.

The trash fee will begin on this month’s utility bill.

Huntsville Utilities is only the billing agent for this service and has no input into the fee structure or scheduling of this service.

More information on this change is available on the City of Madison’s website, www.madisonal.gov.

CONTACT:    HU Public Relations Office

NEWS RELEASE

Huntsville Utilities Reduces Natural Gas Rates

Huntsville Utilities today announced a rate decrease for all natural gas customers. The rate for Huntsville Utilities’ residential customers will be lowered by 10.2% from $9.70 to $8.71 per one thousand cubic feet (1,000 mcf). Small commercial gas customers will also see a 10.1% rate reduction from $10.05 to $9.03 per mcf. The new rates will be effective with meter readings beginning December 1, 2012.

Rates for other rate classifications, including large commercial and industrial customers, will also see reductions of 12%. The rate for transportation-only customers will remain the same, and availability charges will remain unchanged for all customer classes.

With the new rate, the average residential customer could see their monthly bill reduced by nearly $10 per month during the peak heating months of December through February compared to last winter.

The average residential gas customer uses approximately 10,000 cubic feet of gas per month during the heating season. The average usage of 10,000 cubic feet per month is based on a 1,800 square foot house using natural gas for heating and water heating.

Huntsville Utilities is able to offer this decrease based upon the average cost of natural gas hedged and our available storage capacity. The supply of natural gas has increased over the last few years as more gas is available because of new technologies such as hydraulic fracking. The increase in supply has lead to a decrease in the commodity price of natural gas in the energy marketplace.

Natural gas rates have three components: the actual cost of the physical natural gas (commodity cost), the cost to transport that gas to Huntsville, and the cost of operating the gas distribution system to deliver the gas to the customer.

The gas that Huntsville Utilities’ customers use is produced and refined along the Gulf Coast and then shipped by pipeline to north Alabama. Huntsville Utilities pays monthly transportation and storage costs associated with the delivery of the gas from the production area to Huntsville. Huntsville Utilities’ distribution costs, which include administrative costs as well as the costs necessary to provide required maintenance and capital investments in the gas system (as well as a 6% in lieu of tax payment paid to the city of Huntsville), are part of the rate.

Natural gas is a commodity traded on the Futures Market of the New York Mercantile Exchange (“NYMEX”).  Pricing on NYMEX directly influences the price paid for natural gas by Huntsville Utilities. The commodity base price for gas in the new rate structure is $4.09.

The Huntsville Utilities gas system is the largest publicly-owned, not-for-profit gas system in Alabama serving over 49,000 customers in Huntsville and Madison County.

CONTACT:    HU Public Relations Office

After reviewing various options, it is clear that entering into HUD’s “conciliation” process makes the most sense. Huntsville Utilities does not believe any discrimination has occurred, but in order to avoid a drawn out and expensive investigation we have agreed to some expectations that make sound business sense.

Huntsville Utilities believes the issue that HUD was trying to address occurred during a period when the Alabama Immigration law was new and we were learning how to comply with it. Huntsville Utilities believes it has complied with Alabama law as well as Federal law.

Key points of the agreement include:

1. Adoption of a “Limited English Proficiency Plan”;
2. Placement of a non-discrimination statement on advertisements, etc.;
3. Provide additional internal training for staff on The Fair Housing Act;
4. Provide copies of customer service policies for HUD review.

“Huntsville Utilities is committed to non-discrimination in providing the best service to all its customers,” said William Pippin, President and CEO of Huntsville Utilities. “We fully cooperated with HUD’s investigation because we take our leadership responsibility seriously and want to serve as a positive role model in our community.”

Huntsville Utilities is proud to serve every person and business in Huntsville and Madison County.  We have not and do not discriminate in the terms, conditions, or provision of services based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin.

CONTACT:
Huntsville Utilities Public Relations
256-535-1386 / Media Cell  256-652-8545
pr@hsvutil.org

News Release

12:00 pm, Thursday, July 12, 2012

Scams Continue to Target Utility Customers

Scams targeting utility customers continue being reported all across the United States. These scams aim to steal payments and identity information using in-person solicitations, phone calls, social media, fliers, and text messages.

Customers report being told that President Obama has approved special funding through the Federal Reserve Bank for utility bill assistance. However, there is no such funding. Scammers are asking customers for personal information, then providing victims with a fraudulent bank routing number with which to pay their utility bills.

Utility providers across the country are urging customers to remain vigilant. Customers should be suspicious of anyone asking for personal information that their utility provider should already have in their records.

Huntsville Utilities does not contact customers to request this information. Huntsville Utilities does not request credit card information over the phone. If a customer receives such a call, Huntsville Utilities requests that they gather as much information as possible from the caller and contact the utility immediately at 256-535-1200 so the scam can be investigated.

CONTACT:  
HU Public Relations Office

NEWS RELEASE

Water Conservation Requested for Parts of East Huntsville

Huntsville Utilities is requesting that water customers that live in neighborhoods east of the Monte Sano/Green Mountain area to stop watering their yards for the next two days.

One of the pumps that supplies water to this area failed overnight resulting in a loss of about 40 percent of the capacity in this area of the city.

System changes have been made to improve the water supply to that area but until the damaged pump can be replaced; there will be restricted capacity to that area.

Customers are requested to stop lawn irrigation until the pump can be replaced so that there will be an adequate supply of water for home use and fire protection.

Utility crews are preparing to begin the pump replacement tonight but it will take at least 36 hours to replace and test the pump before normal water service can be restored.

Under normal operating conditions, the pump replacement could be done without any restrictions to water use but there currently is a very high demand for water during this current heat wave.

Huntsville Utilities has been pumping approximately 65 million gallons each day this week. The system has the capability to pump over 90 million gallons a day from two treatment plants on the Tennessee River and two wells within the city.

While there are no requests for water conservation in other parts of the Huntsville Utilities’ service area, customers are encouraged to use water wisely.

 Huntsville Utilities will update the status of the repair efforts and conservation request on Sunday, July 1.

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News Release

Scams Continue to Target Utility Customers

Huntsville Utilities states, according to the American Public Power Association (APPA), scams targeting utility customers continue being reported across the United States. These scams aim to steal payments and identity information using in-person solicitations, phone calls, social media, fliers, and text messages. Scam reports are widespread around the country including: California, Illinois, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida.

Recently Huntsville Utilities has received calls from customers reporting they were contacted by someone claiming to represent the utility. The customers were told that their utility services would be disconnected by 5 PM if they did not supply the caller with their Social Security number, date of birth and a credit card number to which their bill could be charged. Huntsville Utilities DOES NOT call customers requesting this information.

Earlier this year, other local customers reported receiving calls from someone claiming to represent Huntsville Utilities and telling them, because of their good payment history, they were selected to win a new car and cash reward. All they had to do was provide credit card information to pay a delivery fee for the car. Huntsville Utilities has no such reward program.

According to the APPA, in the newest scam customers report being told that President Obama has approved special funding through the Federal Reserve Bank for utility bill assistance. However, there is no such funding. Scammers are asking customers for personal information, then providing victims with a fraudulent bank routing number with which to pay their utility bills. A utility provider in Gainesville, FL, reported over 40 customers used the fraudulent routing numbers to pay their utility bills. Memphis (TN) Light, Gas and Water reports nearly 1,000 customers fell victim to the scam.

Utility providers across the country are urging customers to remain vigilant. Customers should be suspicious of anyone asking for personal information that their utility provider should already have in their records.

Huntsville Utilities does not contact customers to request this information. Huntsville Utilities does not request credit card information over the phone. If a customer receives such a call, Huntsville Utilities requests that they gather as much information as possible from the caller and contact the utility immediately at 256-535-1200 so the scam can be investigated.

CONTACT:

HU Public Relations Office

Two customers reported they were called and told their utility services would be disconnected by 5 PM if they did not supply the caller with their Social Security number, date of birth, and a credit card number to pay the bill.

Huntsville Utilities does not call customers requesting this information.

This is the second time this year possible telephone scams have been reported to Huntsville Utilities. In February a Huntsville Utilities customer stated they received a call from an individual who claimed to represent Huntsville Utilities. The caller claimed because this customer had a good payment history, they had been selected to win a new car and cash reward.  All the individual had to do was pay a delivery fee by credit card to have the car delivered. The caller requested their credit card information.

If other customers have received similar calls, Huntsville Utilities requests they contact the utility’s office at 256-535-1200 with details so the scam can be investigated.

 The average electric customer will see a $1.89 increase for June service in comparison to the May 2012 amount.

The TVA FCA is subject to change monthly and is rolled into the overall rate that customers see on their monthly utility statements. These charges will go up or down each month depending on what TVA has to pay for fuel to generate electricity. None of the charges collected for the TVA FCA are kept at Huntsville Utilities.

For billing periods beginning with June 1, 2012, TVA’s total monthly fuel cost will change from 2.311 cents per kilowatt-hour to 2.363 cents per kilowatt-hour.

HU customers will pay 8.673 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in June for the first 1400 kWh compared to 8.545 cents in May.  

Last June, HU customers paid 8.363 per kWh.