On Nov. 15, our new increased electric and gas rates became effective. During the winter months, it’s important to remember your bill reflects your home or business’s electric and gas use - the more energy-efficient you are, the lower your bill.
We have tools available to help you monitor your use and see how rate changes impact you.
As a municipally-owned utility, we do not make a profit on our rates. This year, the rising natural gas prices around the world resulted in higher costs to deliver electric and gas service to homes and businesses, resulting in increased rates. We pass these on directly to our customers through electric cost adjustments (ECA) and gas cost adjustments (GCA).
Current forecasts indicate this could be a short-term increase, as we may see decreases in February and May in 2022. The gas cost adjustment from March 2021 will also expire in May 2022.
Each time we implement a rate increase or decrease, we publish a “sample bill” for our customers.
The most recent adjustments represented about an 11% increase for a sample residential customer with all four services, and 22% increase for a sample commercial customer. However, these are only samples based on our customers’ average use during the entire year.
Here’s a look at the numbers used for these examples:
Natural gas use is typically higher during colder months and lower during warmer months. The actual rates - $0.0474 per kilowatt hour for electricity and $0.8130 per ccf of natural gas - are the same for residential and commercial customers.
That’s why it’s important to take steps to make your home or business energy efficient. Taking advantage of residential and commercial rebates on our smart thermostats and energy-efficient appliances can help you save more in the long run.
We know it is a difficult time for our customers to experience rate increases and we have several programs in place to help: