Memphis Light, Gas and Water’s (MLGW) 2024 Comparative Rates Survey concluded that the company’s combined rates remain to be among the lowest in the United States. The agency has also marked 10 years among “lowest winter utility bills.”
“We want to earn our customers’ business every day by providing great value,” MLGW president and CEO Doug McGowen said in a statement. “Reliability and the best possible rates are what we strive to deliver to our customers.”
According to MLGW, this survey compares Memphis’ combined electric, gas, and water utility rates to 39 other cities in the country that were “geographically close to Memphis, as well as utilities that are similar in size to MLGW.” Among those cities were Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; Nashville, Tennessee; and Houston, Texas.
The costs measured in the survey are those that are effective as of January 2024. The rankings include “what a homeowner would pay for 1,000 kilo-watt-hours (kWh) of electricity, 200 hundred cubic feet (CCF) of gas, and 10 CCF of water.”
Some of the guidelines included calculations based on monthly consumption and applicable seasonal rates. Components such as special early payment discounts, time differentiated rates, and “taxes not booked as revenue by the utility” are excluded.
Memphis ranked lowest on the list of “typical residential winter bills,” with its combined electricity, natural gas, and water bill totaling to $246.42. The city with the second lowest total was Omaha, Nebraska, averaging at $272.43, with Springfield, Missouri, coming in third at $307.19.
MLGW ranked 10th among residential electric bills. This is measured in kilowatts per hour (kWh).
“One kilowatt-hour equals ten 100-watt light bulbs staying on for an hour,” the report said.
For 500 kWh the city averaged $69.22. Springfield, Missouri, ranked number-one at $54.70 for 500 kWH.
The city ranked number-one for low residential gas bills — measured in one hundred cubic feet (Ccf) — with an average of $15.28 for 10 CCF. MLGW also came in first in low general service gas bills at $113.24 for 200 CCF.
Memphis ranked second for low residential water bills at $11.97 for five CCF, and third in low general service water bills averaging $273.18 for 100 CCF.