Fall brings change in base housing utility allowances Published Oct. 16, 2013 By Dixie Harding Vance Housing Asset Manager VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Along with a change of weather, fall also brings a change in utility allowances for all privatized family housing residents. Utility allowances were implemented at Vance Air Force Base in January 2013. Only natural gas and electricity are included in the UA. UAs were established as an Air Force directed program to be comply with Presidential Executive Order 12902, March 1994, requiring energy conservation. The Office of the Secretary of Defense guidance requires service members to be responsible for the utilities they consume and encourage conservation. The Air Force policy, as stated in a September 2000 memorandum from Air Staff, mandates military tenants in privatized housing to be responsible for payment of utility consumption. The policy directs the UAs to be calculated at Vance by Hunt and validated by the Air Force. The UA calculation is set up to mitigate out-of-pocket costs to members. For each unit type in a housing group, the UA calculations will be based on 100 percent of average utility consumption. The policy goes on to require utility allowances be recalculated and revalidated annually incorporating actual consumption data and revised basic allowance for housing entitlements until a five-year rolling average of actual data can be used in the calculations. Vance Family Housing is gearing up for the second year of the UA and will include actual usage of natural gas and electricity for the past two years -- August 2011 through August 2013. Vance housing has 27 different housing groups, each with their own calculated UA. UAs are established for a group by taking the actual consumption for all the units in the group and first determining an average annual consumption. Then the average consumption for each utility is multiplied by the average rate. Then a $13 per month customer fee is added for both electric and natural gas. Lastly, a 10 percent buffer is added to the sub-total to help protect residents from variations in gas and electric rates and seasonal deviations from the average. This total is divided by 12 to establish the monthly UA. The consumption data for any home that was vacant for even one day during a billing cycle is not included in the calculation. In Oklahoma, the rate for both natural gas and electricity vary by month due to seasonal changes, operation costs, etc. These variations are not controllable by the Air Force or by Hunt, but are company policies that apply to everyone - on and off base. Both Oklahoma Gas & Electric and CenterPoint Energy charge a $13 customer fee to all customers. The 27 housing groups at Vance contain homes built at the same time and having similar floor plans. For example, a resident in a three-bedroom is not grouped with a resident in a four-bedroom. A new three-bedroom home is not grouped with an older three-bedroom home. Vance Family Housing UAs have a built-in $50 trigger for refunds and payments. If a resident consumes less than the UA, they will pocket the savings. But if they consume more than the UA, they must pay the additional amount. The $50 trigger means no action is needed by the resident until the cumulative refund or required payment meets or exceeds $50 under or over the UA. When the $50 trigger is met, the resident will either pay the excess or receive a refund. The resident can choose to have the refund applied to future overages. Seasonal weather differences can cause the utility bill to vary widely. Eventually the UA will be based on a five-year rolling average. The five-year rolling average will take into account years with temperatures higher or lower than normal. BAH rates are also adjusted annually. Both the new UA and the new BAH rates will go into effect January 2014. A resident's BAH is a combination of the rent owed to Hunt and the UA. The UA is proposed by Hunt and then reviewed by both Air Force Civil Engineer Center and the base Housing Management Office. Finally, the UA is approved by Vance senior leadership. Residents will be notified of the new UA prior to implementation. Typically, the UA will decrease during the second year because the rates of consumption have gone down as residents realize the potential for refunds. Historically the UAs will level out by the third year as usage normalizes. Key points to remember about UAs are: UAs are Air Force policy, not Hunt's preference UAs are reviewed and approved by the Air Force A resident's lifestyle affects out-of-pocket expenses The Air Force encourages residents to conserve energy Any resident experiencing a consistently higher than average usage may request a utility audit. The audit will look at structural issues, appliances and lifestyle preferences that may be affecting usage. Any questions should be directed to Hunt management, 234-0498, or the Housing Management Office, 213-7438. Both are collocated in the Hunt Community Center at 4405 Lehr Street. No appointment is necessary.