Electric rates to increase again
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s board of directors voted to approve a 4.8 percent rate increase in the wholesale cost of energy it provides to the 44 rural electric cooperatives it supplies. That means Socorro Electric customers, who already experienced an overall 6.9 percent increase earlier this year, can expect to see another bump in their electric bills starting early next year.
The measure passed 43-1 during a special meeting held at its headquarters in Westminster, Colo., on Sept. 6, with Kit Carson Electric Cooperative, based in Taos, casting the lone “no” vote.
Lee Boughey, senior manager of corporate communications and public affairs for Tri-State, said in a phone interview on Tuesday that the new rate schedule will go into effect Jan. 1, 2012.
Boughey said a number of factors play into the cost of energy.
“Regulatory cost, fuel cost, growth in our members’ load and making sure our financial requirements are met has a significant impact on borrowing cost,” he said, adding that customers are still receiving good value. “We’ve worked hard to manage cost and manage risk and we’ve been able to keep rates below the rate of inflation.”
Boughey noted that Tri-State has increased rates seven times in the last 11 years, but this is the first one in three years. He said co-op customers can expect about a $3.00 per month increase to their electric bills due to the wholesale rate increase.
Socorro Electric Cooperative General Manager Joseph Herrera said the increase will vary from co-op to co-op, but the $3.00 per month estimate was probably close to being accurate for customers in Socorro Electric’s service area.
“Ours is probably going to be in the realm of $2.96 or right at $3.00,” he said, adding that the rates are set partially based on historical usage.
Herrera said customers could expect to see the increase reflected on their bills starting in January or February of 2012 as a cost adjustment.
Socorro Electric increased rates for residential and small business customers by about 12 percent earlier this year, while rates for large commercial accounts increased about 2 percent and irrigation users saw an increase of 7.4 percent.
Part of that rate increase for residential customers was tied up in the cost per kilowatt hour. The charge per kWh went up from 12.04 to 12.50 cents. The bulk of the increase was tied to the system charge, which increased from $9.00 per month to $15.00 per month.
Socorro Electric officials were saying at that time that the average increase for residential customers would be about $8.31 per month, so when the new rates go into effect early next year they will be paying more than $11.00 more per month than they did a year earlier.
Herrera said Tri-State’s rate increase will be among the items to be addressed by Socorro Electric’s board of trustees when they meet for their regular monthly meeting at 5:30 p.m. tonight (Wednesday, Sept. 28).
Contact T.S. Last