Committee discusses campaign for electric bond issue

The committee charged with publicizing and advocating the approval of a city-backed electric bond issue met for the first time Tuesday to hear details of the project, organize subcommittees and choose a name for itself.

The committee, appointed by Mayor Darwin Hindman, includes Water and Light Advisory Board members and local business leaders.

Dan Dasho, director of Columbia Water and Light, told the committee that the passage of the “capital-intensive” $60 million bond would pay for upgrading the city’s existing distribution system, transmission system improvements, new transformers and a renewable fuel power plant, among other projects.

“We’re talking about the nuts and bolts of the electric system,” Dasho said. “This bond issue is all about providing reliable service to the citizens of Columbia.”

Voters last approved an electric bond issue in 1997, the funds from which lasted until 2004. Since then, the city has used cash reserves to pay for electric distribution system projects.

But an increase in the costs of material and a need for more improvements led the department to request additional funds through a bond issue this August, Dasho said.

If the bond issue is approved, the first increase would take effect Oct. 1, at the beginning of the fiscal year, and the average residential customer’s monthly bill would rise by about 60 cents per month in each of the four years of scheduled rate increases.

When it was time for the group to pick a slogan, member Tom Baumgardner cautioned the group against accidentally misleading voters into thinking the bond issue would add or expand electricity services.

“It’s a replacement of worn-out stuff. Don’t mislead anybody (into thinking) this power is going to every place in Columbia, because it’s not,” Baumgardner said. “I think we need to make sure we think about this so we don’t deliberately or accidentally, whichever is worse, mislead people.”

City Manager Bill Watkins said the slogan should reflect the affordability and reliability of the bond issue.

“This is the cheapest way we’ve discovered to address the need. We’re talking about the electric system, as opposed to the supply.”

After discussing the marketing value of using words like “reliability,” “affordability” and “distribution,” the committee, led by co-chair Sabrina McDonnell, decided unanimously to use the slogan “Yes=Reliable Electricity” for the group’s marketing campaign.

The group plans to form finance, marketing and public presentations subcommittees for the seven weeks leading up to the election.

City Manager Bill Watkins said committee members can expect to see brochures, graphs and a budget at their next meeting on July 5.