LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — A petition is gaining momentum in the Lake Worth Beach community, requesting that the city provide further explanation about the recent spike in electricity bills.
Lake Worth Beach business owner Lisa Owens said her and her coworkers' utility bills have gone up substantially.
"We both have seen the increase go up $100, which I think is a lot, especially when they've been raising rents around here," Owens said. "So, we are a little bit concerned because I don't know why it had to go up that much, it's just too much."
A Lake Worth Beach spokesperson said the city increased rates on residents' "Power Cost Adjustment" by 16.25% in September. The spokesperson said the jump is directly due to the price of natural gas, which has quadrupled.
Paul Kludt owns Lake Worth Coin Laundry and told WPTV he's doing everything he can not to pass the added costs along to his customers.
"We've raised prices probably between 10-15%," Kludt said. "We're a laundry mat, we can't raise them that much because people just can't pay $10 to wash their clothes. So, this is this is just one of these things that we just have to absorb these increases as best we can, kind of ride out the storm and hope prices will come back down."
The city said it is able to adjust the PCA quarterly. So, if natural gas prices stabilize, which the city is already seeing a downward trend in the future markets, the city will make adjustments to the customer's bill shortly after.
