For Immediate Release
Contact: Jon Quinday
Phone: 483-6311
What is causing US utility bills to rise, and will it impact Russell customers?
As a former Army Colonel once told me, "bottom line up front." His advice and this basic military principle are simple: put the most important details first. Don't tease or delay your main point because people are busy, and their time is valuable.
Bottom line? Yes, the rise in US utility bills is beginning to impact your utility. Beginning with your bill received in October, customers will see a $0.01, or one cent, per kilowatt hour added to their bill through an Energy Cost Adjustment or ECA. Except for seven months between September 2019 and March 2020, customers last saw the ECA on their bill in December 2015. For those seven months between 2019 and 2020, the ECA was a credit of one cent per kilowatt hour, as energy prices were low.
You're not alone. Public power communities, electric cooperatives, and investor-owned utilities across the United States have implemented energy cost adjustments due to rising wholesale energy costs. The primary factor for increased energy costs is natural gas prices. You don't have to look any further than your natural gas bill for your home or business. Costs have increased dramatically. Those increased costs affect utilities as natural gas accounts for 38% of all electrical generation in the US, as coal plants are retired, and there is more dependence on renewables such as wind and solar.
As a public power utility - community-owned, not-for-profit, with locally-made decisions - we pride ourselves in providing low-cost power to our customers, boasting some of the lowest energy costs in the area.
Please read the full story here for more detailed information on the rising cost of wholesale energy, how it impacts your utility, your rates, and what is projected for future utility costs.
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