The west end of Water Avenue, complete with vintage lamp posts, summertime flower baskets, and no overhead electrical wires, shown Thursday, June 18, 2026.
At the risk of digging up old news, it’s time to make a correction regarding the surcharge Albany customers of Pacific Power are paying for putting electric lines under ground along the western three blocks of Water Avenue.
The surcharge affects all power bills inside the city of Albany and started on April 1.
So by now, city residents who study their power bills already know what they are being charged. And it is not the $1.35 a month that a power company spokesman told me in January.
Instead, the surcharge amounts to 1.15 percent of the bill. The Public Utility Commission and the power company call it a “municipal exaction, imposed on the company by municipalities and billed separately by the company to customers.”
On the June 10 bill for a little old house on the west side of town, the “Water Avenue Project” was billed at the required 1.15 percent. This amounted to a whopping 30 cents and brought the total bill for the month to just under $29.
It is now clear that the $1.35 a month given me in January, and reported on this site on Jan. 21, was not the actual monthly charge but an average, probably the mean, for all the customers,
It also means that a lot of customers are paying a heck of a lot more for this project than 30 cents a month.
The undergrounding of electrical equipment was required by the city as part of the $22 million Albany Waterfront Project, which included mainly the rebuilding of Monteith Riverfront Park and reconstruction of the west end of Water Avenue.
But while the cost of the Waterfront Project was covered by the city’s CARA urban renewal program, CARA paid for only a portion of the undergrounding cost. The cost was just above $1.8 million, and urban renewal agency paid $545,054, leaving Pacific customers to cover the rest.
City officials negotiated with Pacific Power in order to spread the surcharge to power customers over two years rather than one, so that the monthly amounts would be lower.
Below, there’s a page I received from Pacific Power this week. It details the “exaction” for Water Avenue. (hh)
c
.
The city will tell you anything to make it sound good at first till the real truth comes out. They lie to the city. Im sick of them trying to rip off the people that are already struggling.
That $29 for a “little old house” in West Albany” must be the cheapest electrical bill in town. Most people in Albany will never forget or get over the huge expenditures made by CARA.
Lovely picture of a vacant Water Ave., Hasso. And, that is what it is like (no people in sight) except for about 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays from spring until fall…the duration of the Saturday Market. But, yes, it looks nice. But, as old saying goes, “nice is as nice does.” And Albany having that fancy plaza street “does” no good.
I don’t recall the city “negotiating” with me to pay for their pet projects. Nor do I remember voting for it on any of the ballots? How about we have a recall vote on the next ballot instead? With all the talk about raising our electrical charges AGAIN, I’m thinking it’s time to go fully off the grid, water and electric.
you are free to go off grid
Was “exaction” fee misspelled? I kid you not, when I first glanced at your post I thought it read “extraction” fee.
According to Google AI etc. it appears exaction IS THE WORD that best fits.
1. General Meaning (Extortion or Severe Demand)In everyday or formal English, an exaction is a severe, unjust, or forced extraction of money, resources, or obedience.Example: The villagers suffered under the harsh exactions and heavy taxes imposed by the local warlord.Usage note: In legal terms, it differs slightly from extortion. Extortion is when an official demands more money than is legally owed. Exaction is when an official demands a fee or payment where absolutely nothing is owed.
nice street
someone have to pay
prefer ugly street?
or is govenment transparancy main issue?
seems commin theme in this town
As Forrest Gump would say…..just like that a higher bill for 2 years….then 3…..oh my