Everyone is watching their budgets these days.

It’s hard, though, when gas and grocery prices are rising and there are Christmas presents to buy.

You can only cut back so much, but you can’t do without utilities.

At a time when Georgia Power Co. is seeking a $1 billion rate hike, adding $15 a month to the average customer’s utility bill, the cities of Covington and Oxford are holding the line on the rates they will charge their customers next year.

That’s a great move.

Georgia Power and the cities are seeing increases in the costs they incur to generate or provide power. The cities have decided to absorb the costs, helping their customers out in a tough economic market.

Covington is taking $2.3 million from an electricity-based fund to cover its increased costs, and may even have enough to actually reduce the cost for its customers.

Kudos to the cities for placing their customers, the people they serve, first.