Lehighton Light and Power is turning to customers to recoup increased electricity costs brought on by the harsh winter.

On a 5-0 vote, borough council at a special meeting agreed to recover the charges of the Power Purchase Cost Adjustment over a fixed period of a three-month period, from March through May.Councilmen Scott Rehrig, Darryl Arner, John Kreitz, Councilwoman Helen Torok and council President Grant Hunsicker were in favor. Councilwoman Bessie Bauchspies and Councilman Joe Flickinger were absent.Rehrig said, "It's fair to stretch it out for three months."A memo distributed to council by borough Manager Nicole Beckett explains the January power bill."The January AMP bill is much higher than previous billings due to an increase in transmission charges caused by a variety of reasons, including: subzero weather spanning the PJM system; record demand and record power prices; plant outages; and increased natural gas costs resulting in emergency conditions."Transmission lines were at capacity, leading to additional transmission charges. We have discussed the billing with Jim Havrilla from Utility Engineers."Beckett added that the March PPCA is calculated at $3.747 cents nearly double the normal rate per kilowatt-hour, which is significantly higher than the borough's average of $1.7 cents per KWH. The PPCA formula is set by ordinance, she said.As a result, Beckett said AMP has offered financing plans, including an interest charge of 1.25 percent over a three- or six-month period, and noted that the borough has the ability to pay AMP in full without incurring interest charges.Utility Engineers provided alternatives to the borough to pass on the full charges to the customers as follows: Create one PPCA charge of $3.747 per KWH, or elect to recover the charges over a fixed period of three months, passing on a reasonable PPCA.Beckett states in the memo, "Overall, it will affect our 2014 budget, and future capital outlay. We will also be facing high costs of transmission charges for February, and possibly March, which needs to be considered."After the meeting, Beckett said, "We're going to try to keep the bills as average as possible over the three-month period. This will allow the borough to recover the additional cost that we've been charged while providing the customers with a reasonable PPCA."She added, "There is concern for any additional adjustments coming up in February and March. This approach that council approved will address the concerns for those adjustments if needed."