Little Rock Family Housing converts to resident paid electricity Published June 21, 2013 By 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- Col. Brian Robinson, the 19th Airlift Wing commander, held a town hall meeting June 20 in Herc Hall to address Little Rock Air Force Base housing residents' questions concerning the conversion to resident paid electricity. The new system is designed to ultimately conserve energy and possibly save the residents money in the long run. Robinson emphasized the intent of the new billing system. "The intent is to incentivize conserving the consumption of energy," said Robinson. "That consumption will fall within your BAH allowance. The intent is not to charge you more." Mary Holliday-Soko, Little Rock Family Housing community director and assistant director of operations for Hunt Military Family Housing, joined Robinson to walk through the seven steps of the conversion process. The conversion began with metering more than 50 different types of homes in base housing. Each type of home was determined based on floor plans, neighborhood, year built, etc. For the past 12 to 18 months, data was collected to calculate the average energy consumption per type of home. This information would be combined to determine a utility allowance (UA) for residents. Empty, vacant units were taken out of the calculation during the initial metering, said Holliday-Soko. The UA is the amount of BAH that is not used to pay rent. This amount will remain with the resident and is available to be used to pay the electric bill. Any difference between the actual cost of the bill and the UA can be saved by the Airmen and their families. The UA combines the average consumption for each home type with a 10 percent cushion. Therefore, residents would have to exceed 110 percent of the consumption average to pay out of pocket, said Robinson. Little Rock housing is currently at this step, calculating the UA and awaiting approval from the base commander. The approved allowance will be reviewed by the commander annually to ensure they are correct and accurate amounts. The next step will be mock billing for six months beginning with the first bill arriving in August for July's consumption. This will allow residents an opportunity to monitor their electricity consumption before live billing begins in January 2014. Residents will pay Minol each month when the conversion officially begins. Minol is the third part billing company that will provide meter reading, billing, collections, accounting and customer service for residents. Robinson said there were two distinct benefits of the system on base including a 3-cent advantage per kilowatt-hour compared to what you would find in the local community. There will not be a deposit to the electric company, as well. Residents at the town hall brought up several questions and concerns regarding the UA calculation and the harsher changes in temperatures during the summer or winter months. The UA is a set amount based on the average consumptions for an entire year, so residents may potentially save more money during the fall or spring months. However, Airmen may counter those savings with higher bills during the winter or summer. "You get a check in the fall and the spring when you're not using much (electricity) and you pay out in the summer and the winter," said Col. Clay Mason, 314th Maintenance Group commander. "That's how it works." Mason had experienced this billing system before at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., prior to his arrival here. This prompted other questions about the margin of savings, since the level of consumption would decrease in the next year and potentially set a lower standard. The margin to save may decrease over time, but the rate is part of a 5-year rolling average. Plus residents will always have the 10 percent cushion to save, said Holliday-Soko. The talk of energy efficiency spurred many residents to being offering their own solutions to save money at home, to include adding permanent fixtures like ceiling fans in their homes. Questions of reimbursement after moving out were taken as action items to be addressed as soon as possible. "Quite a bit of energy-efficient improvements were done with the renovation," said Holliday-Soko. "Part of the goal for having resident responsible for paying for their utility is so in the end we can put more money aside to make improvements. Any money that we save from this will be put back into the property, and energy efficiency is one of our biggest goals." Holliday-Soko addressed questions regarding residents currently in a lease that may not want to re-sign before the system goes live. "There is a clause in your lease that allows for this with a 30 days' notice for us to make the changes to the utility allowances," said Holliday-Soko. "We will give you 30 days' notice. It is not an out on your lease." The housing office will notify residents through mailing what their respective UA is after the rates are signed off by Robinson in the coming month. To find out more information contact the housing office at 501-983-9044.