Columbia Same—Residential service rate ordinance (§ 27-112)
Chapter 27: Utilities · Article III. Water and Light System
In short: Residential electric customers pay $22.44 a month ($35.72 with a non-standard meter) plus energy charges starting at 9.07 cents per kWh for the first 300 kWh and rising with use, plus 7.5268 percent in lieu of gross receipts tax and sales tax. Each dwelling unit needs its own meter.
Our plain-English summary, not the official text or legal advice. The ordinance below is what counts.
(a) Application: The residential service rate applies to all customers where service is supplied to a residential dwelling unit. No other service rate shall be available for service to which the residential service rate applies. Each residential dwelling unit must have a separate meter through which the electricity supplied the residential dwelling unit shall be measured for billing by the department. If a portion of the electric service supplied to a dwelling unit is used for nonresidential purposes, the customer can arrange his wiring in such manner that the electric service for residential purposes can be metered separately and this rate schedule is applicable to the portion used for residential purposes. The residential service rate shall not be available for standby, supplementary or resale services.
(b) Type of service: The type of service shall be single-phase, sixty-hertz, 120/240.
(c) Monthly rate charge. The monthly rate per kilowatt hour shall be as follows, subject to power cost adjustments as provided in section 27-118:
(1) Customer charge, per month .....$22.44 Non-standard electric meter customer charge, per month .....35.72
(2) Energy charge: .....
Summer:
First 300 kwh, per kwh .....9.07 cents
Next 450 kwh, per kwh .....11.11 cents
Next 1,250 kwh, per kwh .....13.15 cents
All remaining kwh, per kwh .....15.19 cents
Non-summer:
First 300 kwh, per kwh .....9.07 cents
Next 450 kwh, per kwh .....11.11 cents
All remaining kwh, per kwh .....12.24 cents
Except when the customer has permanently installed in a living area a minimum of five (5) kilowatts of utility-approved electric space heating equipment which is the sole source of comfort heating (except decorative fireplaces) for the area(s) to be heated, the rate per kwh for the non-summer season will be:
First 300 kwh, per kwh .....9.07 cents
Next 450 kwh, per kwh .....11.11 cents
All remaining kwh, per kwh .....10.20 cents
(d) High efficiency heat pumps: For customers having a permanently installed heat pump which is the primary source of comfort heating and which conforms to the special rules and regulations outlined in department rules entitled "Heat Pump Rules and Regulations," the monthly rate per kilowatt hour billed during the non-summer season for energy shall be as follows:
First 300 kwh, per kwh .....9.07 cents
Next 450 kwh, per kwh .....11.11 cents
All remaining kwh, per kwh .....9.69 cents
(e) Minimum: The minimum monthly rate charge shall be twenty-two dollars and forty-four cents ($22.44). The minimum monthly rate charge for customers with a non-standard electric meter shall be thirty-five dollars and seventy-two cents ($35.72).
(f) In lieu of gross receipts tax payments and sales tax: In addition to the charge based on monthly rates as computed above, the total monthly charge for service shall include applicable sales taxes and an in lieu of gross receipts tax payment equal to 7.5268 percent of the monthly rate charge. Sales taxes shall be applied to the total of the monthly rate charge and the in lieu of gross receipts tax payment.
(g) Standby service for solar assisted residences: Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, the electric service rates set forth in this section for residential customers shall be available and apply to all residential customers regardless of the use by that residential customer of solar energy for comfort heating or the use of electric energy as standby and supplementary service to solar energy as the primary source of comfort heating for residential purposes.
(h) Load control: Customers under this rate may receive a discount on summer bills if they elect to allow the city to install, operate and maintain load control devices on qualifying cooling equipment (see section 27- 129).
(i) Net metering credit: Qualified customers under this rate may receive a per kWh discount for the energy supplied by a qualified net metering unit as outlined in section 27-120.1.
Official source: City of Columbia official Code of Ordinances (online): look up Sec. 27-112
Text from Supplement 139 (September 3, 2026).
Last checked November 1, 2026. The city's official copy controls; this page is a reading copy, not legal advice.