Set sprinklers to water the lawn or garden only - not the street or sidewalk.
Use the microwave to cook small meals. (It uses less power than an oven.)
Purchase "Green Power" for your home's electricity. (Contact your power supplier to see where and if it is available.)
Scrape, rather than rinse, dishes before loading into the dishwasher; wash only full loads.
Cut back on air conditioning and heating use if you can.
Turn off appliances and lights when you leave the room.
CMUD wants more money CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities customers were asked to conserve water. They did and now might have to pay the price for making that sacrifice. CMUD wants a rate hike.
“We certainly don’t want people to feel punished because they’ve been doing exactly what we’ve been asking them to do,” said Erin Culbert of CMUD.
The utility faces up to a $16 million budget shortfall this fiscal year because people are using less water. To make up the deficit, CMUD wants city council to increase the price of water by as much as 18 percent.
"It’s almost like getting blackmailed in a sense,” said George Gregory, owner of the family run Pressley Park Restaurant. “It’s really not fair for us individual owners since we are not a big franchise restaurant.”
Normally, CMUD asks for a 5-8 percent rate increase each year. The 18 percent increase request this time would mean an extra $6.36 each month for the average user.
"Well, we've waited until the house is on fire to decide we have a problem,” said Buddy Murrow, owner of Shepherd’s Landscaping in Huntersville. “We've addressed the problem too late."
Murrow and others in the landscaping industry have been urging CMUD to implement a fixed rate structure to maintain a steady stream of revenue regardless of usage.
WCNC asked CMUD officials last fall if water restrictions would cause higher rates. The answer then was no.
"Several months ago we were monitoring the situation. We had plenty of revenue at that time,” said Culbert.
CMUD has been dipping into a sort of special rainy day fund but the utility didn't anticipate that mandatory restrictions would last this long.
Council is scheduled to vote on the rate proposal March 24. The proposed rate would kick in May 1.
