Extreme heat driving up cost of summer
-
Charles Benson reports Video by wtmj.com
video
MILWAUKEE- Milwaukee has lots of water thanks to Lake Michigan, and the city says the water is cheaper compared to other communities. Five gallons cost one penny.
But just about everyone is using more water and more energy and that adds up to more money.
"We do use a lot of water here," said Barbara Ali.
She replaced her Whitefish Bay lawn with a beautiful flower garden a couple of years ago. She expects her quarterly water bill to jump from $200 to $300 but she's not complaining.
"I was hoping they would skip this quarter, but I'm sure we are going to get it and it's going to be higher."
On Facebook, Julie Romie told TODAY'S TMJ4: "Our water company called us because our water usage was up so high. They thought we had a leak!"
On an average summer day, Milwaukee uses 110 million gallons of water, that average jumped to 127 million gallons last weekend. The worst day so far this year was 162 million gallons used on June 29.
But that doesn't even come close to the all-time record.
That came during the drought of 1988, on August 2 the city used 322 million gallons of water.
Ali says her air conditioner is on all the time despite living eight blocks from the Lake Michigan.
"We are on the budget plan anyway so it wont truly reflect it until the end of the year but I'm sure it's going to be higher," says Ali.
We Energies tells TODAY'S TMJ4 rates this year are the same as last year, so if your bill is higher it's because you are using more electricity.
This site uses Facebook comments to make it easier for you to contribute. If you see a comment you would like to flag for spam or abuse, click the "x" in the upper right of it. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use.