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The City of Mount Dora, faced with decreasing profits in the operation of its Electric System because of the increased costs of fuel passed to it by the Florida Power Corporation, which furn ishes the city with electric power, has reluctantly ordered a raise in the fuel oil charge on all elec tric bills for its customers from six to 10 per cent. The six per cent charge had been in effect since 1949 and had been held fast at that rate despite a gradual increase in the per barrel cost of fuel oil from $1.55 at that time to $2.33, the cost for this month. The fuel oil charge is based on the basic electric bill, an illus tration being that a consumer with a basic electric bill amount ing to $10 who had previously paid a sixty cents fuel oil charge will now pay $1, representing a forty cents increase. The charge to the city for fuel oil is adjusted monthly by the Florida Power Corporation which bills the city for the fuel oil used in finishing power to the city, with the bill being comput ed on the prevailing rate. Over the accounting period from November 1, 1953, to Octob er 31, 1954, the average cost per barrel for fuel was $2.10. The total bill to the city amounted to $16,792.46 while the six per cent fuel oil tab on individual bills amounted to $10,246.49, a loss to the city of $6,545.97, which loss was absorbed by the city. Over the accounting period No vember 1, 1954 to October 31, 1955, the city’s bill from Florida Power Corporation was $20,850.91, based on an average charge of $2.20 per barrel, 10 cents per barrel more than during the pre vious accounting period. The six per cent charge to consumers a mounted to a total of $11,302.02 which gave the city a loss in the amount of $9,548.89, which was again absorbed by the city. During the past two years, the city’s fuel oil cost has fluctuated and, until it leaped eight cents per barrel, from $2.21 on Septem ber 1 to $2.29 on October 1, the biggest change was early in 1954 when a five cents increase was noted on the February 12 bill over the January 1 bill. During the intervening months this cost increased and decreased at a rough average rate of two cents per barrel. The most recent de crease was on September 1 of this year when the per barrel cost was set at $2.21 against $2.22 for the preceding two months. Following the eight cents a barrel increase on October 1, how ever, another four cents increase was made which will be reflected in the city’s bill it will receive on November 1. Advance informa tion indicates that there will be a whopping increase, in compar ison, in the December 1 bill which will be charged at $2.45 per barrel. Having followed the changing costs in fuel oil with a wary eye city officials could foresee losses to the city soaring to some $15,000 during the next account ing period and decided it was economically unsound to con tinue to absorb the increasing losses which would, in turn, re duce profit revenue available for other necessary city projects. Faced with this realization, de cision was made to partially off set the projected losses by in creasing the cost to the consumer. Conversely, the city is quick to pass along the benefits of any reductions in fuel oil costs to its consumers. This is evidenced by the fact that in 1947, the consum er paid a fuel oil charge of twenty per cent of his basic bill. As fuel oil costs were reduced this charge was progressively reduced from 20 per cent to 17 per cent, then to 14 per cent, again to 10 per cent and, in 1949, dropped to six per cent and being held at that figure until the present increase. A study of the fuel oil costs to the city over the past two years shows that, to have broken even during the period Novem ber 1—October 31, the city would have had to have charged its consumers at the rate of 10 per cent and, to have broken even over the following similar ac counting period it would have had to charge at a rate of 12 per cent. To break even under present fuel oil costs would en tail a consumer charge at a 15 per cent increase. In setting the new rate at 10 per cent, the city will continue to absorb a loss.
Newspaper Details
Mount Dora Herald
Mount Dora, Florida, US
Wed, Oct 12, 1955
Page 1
Full Page
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FL, USA 17 Nov 2025
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