With last month’s cold temperatures driving up energy use, many St. James residents are seeing higher utility bills. City Administrator Leeann DeMouche said this can be attributed to increased …
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With last month’s cold temperatures driving up energy use, many St. James residents are seeing higher utility bills. City Administrator Leeann DeMouche said this can be attributed to increased consumption, not changes in utility rates.
“When it’s cold, people want to stay warm, and, of course, they turn their heater on, and that’s what causes the bills to go up, is their consumption,” DeMouche said. “We did not do anything with the price or the cost.”
Residential electric rates were last updated in January of 2025, when they decreased by about a cent per kilowatt hour, DeMouche said.
At the current electric rate, residents are paying 12 cents per kilowatt hour for the first 300 hours of use, plus 11.1 cents per kilowatt hour for additional use and a $13.20 monthly service fee.
DeMouche said rates for water and sewer haven’t increased in several years.
Natural gas rates fluctuate monthly based on the cost the city pays for it that month.
Sanitation is the only rate that has seen a recent increase. Its residential rate rose from $11.90 per month to $17.73 per month last November. DeMouche noted that this increase was approved through public hearing and advertised to residents.
“(Rate increases) are a process,” DeMouche said. “It’s not just something that happens overnight.”
All St. James utility bills include graphs which compare residents’ electric, water and natural gas usage for that month to their usage from the same month of the previous year. DeMouche said these graphs are meant to help residents identify increases in consumption that may be affecting their bills.
During the winter months, colder temperatures mean heating systems run harder and more frequently. Even small adjustments to the thermostat, coupled with the use of space heaters, running lights longer during shorter days and increased hot water consumption, can add up and lead to higher bills.
Residents who have concerns regarding their utility bills are encouraged to contact City Hall at 573-265-7011. DeMouche said the city has been able to help multiple residents better understand their increased use and why it’s led to a higher bill.
