Logan residents shocked at high utility bills

Dry, hot weather conditions combined with a $7 base increase per month has many Logan residents balking at their most recent utility bills.

Starting in July, fees in three categories went up to account for base increases in water, sewer and stormwater rates, but city officials are saying that high electric and water usage has translated into steeper monthly bills than otherwise expected.

Base rates in three areas within Logan utility bills were increased a total of $7 for residents this summer. The increases, which are paying for various capital projects throughout the city but chiefly along 1000 West, were approved by councilmembers in June.

Logan is putting $14 million toward the 1000 West project. Although the Utah Department of Transportation is paying for the road surface, Anderson said the city is responsible for funding infrastructure updates below the ground.

Actual consumption rates — the area in which most residents are seeing the biggest jumps on their bills — were not altered.

Utility bills in Logan include base rates for a handful of services — from 911 operations to garbage collection — and a variable charge for electricity and water usage, both of which are measured monthly. HJNews

Logan Gas Prices Hold Steady Over Last Month, Utah's Average One of Nation's Highest

Despite falling nationwide, the average price of gasoline in Utah has stayed high in the past month.

The price of gas in the Logan area saw no change — staying at $3.71 per gallon of unleaded gasoline — from May to June, according to AAA Insurance, which issues monthly gas price advisories.

Utah’s average, as of Tuesday, sits at $3.72, while the national average is $3.54, down 22 cents from May 8. The price of gas in Utah has gone up on average 2 cents from last month.

Utah now ranks 11th in the nation for its gasoline prices. The Herald Journal

Logan retrofitting hundreds of street lights

Logan Light and Power crews are retrofitting hundreds of street lighting poles with new energy-efficient lamps along Main Street, 600 West and other corridors.

In all, 521 new lights will go up, replacing obsolete fixtures from the 1970s and '80s. Chris Niemann, technical operations manager for the department, says the outgoing lights consume, on average, 450 watts each. The new fixtures burn 150 watts. Smaller versions for side streets use only 50 watts.

Using federal grant money and a small match from the city, the department acquired $124,000 to purchase 521 new fixtures — 219 of which will be installed on Main Street.

The city considered purchasing LED fixtures, but the cost and technology, says Niemann, are still changing rapidly. Instead, the department opted for induction technology. Herald Journal

Eden Canyon hydro project off the table

A Logan-based energy company has decided it will not pursue the North Eden Hydro Project, a proposed $1.5 billion energy project near Bear Lake that backers say would help satisfy the West’s growing thirst for power in an efficient and environmentally friendly way. Symbiotics has reported to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, that the project is “unfeasible at this time” and that it “will not be pursuing the project any further.” The main reason for Symbiotics abandoning the project is public sentiment. Herald Journal

Micro-hydro spooling up: Logan city project will power 185 homes

Logan Light & Power hopes to kill multiple birds with one stone when its new hydroelectric generator goes online in the near future.

The facility, installed last week on the culinary water pipeline at the mouth of Logan Canyon, will provide enough electricity to power nearly 200 homes while emitting no carbon into the atmosphere. Currently Logan gets 23.7 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. Some comes from the Colorado River, some from a wind turbine facility in Wyoming, and an increasing amount comes from hydroelectric systems in Logan Canyon.

HJ News.com

Micro-hydro spooling up: Logan city project will power 185 homes

Logan Light & Power hopes to kill multiple birds with one stone when its new hydroelectric generator goes online in the near future. The facility, installed last week on the culinary water pipeline at the mouth of Logan Canyon, will provide enough electricity to power nearly 200 homes while emitting no carbon into the atmosphere.

Two years ago, Logan city built a new drinking water line to replace the decaying older pipeline. With the new pipe, however, came new complications in the form of excess pressure. For the past two years, the city has used a pressure reducing valve to address the excess build-up. It works, but it creates new problems of its own. Enter the new hydroelectric generator, which will not only bleed excess pressure from the pipeline, but will also convert it into usable, sustainable, eco-friendly electricity. Logan Herald Journal