Our View

Credit due to efficiency of West Memphis Utility Department

Unbeknown to most West Memphis residents, one of the main assets this city has is its ability to provide its citizens some of the cheapest utility costs in the entire state not to mention top notice services.

We give credit to the absolute professional and experienced leadership within the West Memphis Utility Department, a special branch of city government that has provided the citizens of West Memphis with quality services for decades.

We’d bet to say that among all the departments within the city, the utility is among the most efficient while, at the same time, being able to provide unparalleled services.

Not only are the citizens getting a real bargain in so far as utility rates they are provided with uninterrupted services particularly when it comes to electricity.

Even during severe weather conditions when storms do cause damage to utility poles utility crews are instantly called into action and 99% of the time have power restored within record time.

The benefit West Memphis enjoys in having such a top notch utility department is when it comes to economic development. One of the major selling points city leaders have in promoting West Memphis is very competitive utility rates and the ability to provide specialized needs to potential investors.

We were especially impressed with Utility Manager and engineer Todd Pedersen’s recent report and presentation to the utility commissioners regarding next year’s projections and expectations.

City officials were given the utility department’s $15 million annual budge which remained flat as a result of reduced operating expenses and a focused attention to expenditures. Let’s also take into account that while the 2020 budget remained flat it also included recent employee raises, another indicator of professional management.

Let’s also point out that while the biggest expense for next year will be a new power supply agreement that will be almost $390,000 or 1% higher than 2019.

The utility will spend $16.2 million to buy electricity for all West Memphis customers while at the same time not requesting a customer rate increase.

While all this is positive the utility department will be facing some potentially costly challenges next year in that attention must be given to the city’s aging waste water treatment facility. The utility department must work to both cutoff the runoff water to satisfy Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and expand the capacity of three treatment plants to accommodate future growth.

The bottom line in all this is to spread the word to the citizens of West Memphis that they are fortunate to being served by a municipal utility service that they can be very proud of knowing that those professionals behind the scenes are doing a highly commendable job.

Let’s face it, seldom do we hear government entities at any level operate with such proficiency.