Jul. 3--Lehighton, Quakertown and Perkasie have extended contracts with the company that provides their electricity, helping ensure steady rates for the boroughs' customers through 2015.

"We are pleased that we could lock in these lower rates going out that far into the future," Perkasie Manager Daniel Olpere said.

"It locks us in at what we believe is a very good rate," Quakertown Manager Scott McElree said.

"We try to keep annual increases to a minimal level, and locking in rates now will permit us to continue that procedure," Lehighton Manager John Wagner said in an e-mail.

The boroughs buy electricity from American Municipal Power of Ohio and sell it to residential and commercial users in their communities.

Lehighton and Quakertown, which pay the same rates, recently extended their contract for three years, and Perkasie extended its for two. All contracts will expire at the end of 2015.

In Perkasie, the average price per megawatt hour the borough pays for the first five years of the contract is $94.06. The price for the two extended years will be $87.99 and $87.92 respectively.

The borough's 3,850 residential and commercial customers were hit with a 42 percent increase in electric rates this year and will pay 17 percent more in 2010, although the 2010 increase may be reduced, Olpere said. Those rates were set before the extension.

Quakertown and Lehighton are paying $80.38 per megawatt hour this year and $84.36 in 2010; the average price for the extended three years of the contract through 2015 is $86.39.

Rates charged to consumers are higher than the cost the boroughs pay because the revenue covers electric department and other expenses. The borough managers said they can't predict future rates for customers.

Perkasie, for example, uses about $2 million a year in electric revenue to pay for general fund and capital expenses, Olpere said.

AMP provides electricity to 128 municipalities, including 29 in Pennsylvania that also include Weatherly, St. Clair, Schuylkill Haven, Hatfield and Kutztown.

robert.orenstein@mcall.com

610-820-6133

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