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LENOIR, NC (August 21, 2024) ⇒ Rising wholesale costs for electricity and materials require a rate adjustment that will impact the average member’s bill by 1.5 percent starting in October. For a typical member using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month, the equivalent amount is $2.

Blue Ridge Energy’s board of directors approved the adjustment after conducting a cost of service study that examined the impact of wholesale electricity costs and other cost increases.

CEO Doug Johnson explained the need for the rate adjustment: “Over the past few years, wholesale electricity costs have increased 12 percent, resulting in millions of dollars in financial impact for the cooperative. The price increases are largely due to government policies forcing the retirement of coal-fired power plants without adequate replacements already in place – a policy that goes too far, too fast,” he continued. “Added to this shift in the energy market are sharply rising costs for materials and services needed to provide members with reliable electricity.”

For example, prices for power poles have increased by nearly 50 percent in the last few years. Prices for transformers have increased by 85 percent. And prices for aerial work platforms have increased by 72 percent. Labor costs for maintaining rights-of-way have increased by $3 million in just one year.

Due to rising wholesale electricity costs, the cooperative began implementing a wholesale electricity cost adjustment (WPCA) of $9 per 1,000 kWh monthly on members’ bills in February 2023. A WPCA is a method used by utilities to offset temporary increases or decreases in electricity costs. Since wholesale electricity costs have remained at the higher level since then, the WPCA will be included in the base rate going forward. Therefore, members will no longer see the current WPCA as a separate item on their bills starting in October. The additional 1.5 percent increase will help fully offset the continued rising wholesale electricity costs.

Continuing to control and reduce costs will be important, Johnson said. In addition to efforts to work with state and federal elected officials on energy policy to maintain affordable and reliable electricity, he highlighted other efforts by the cooperative. “Internal efforts to reduce operating costs have allowed us to protect our members from the extremely rising costs we have experienced over the past few years,” he said. “The cooperative’s propane and fuel subsidiaries and dark fiber have also been a great help,” he added, explaining that the subsidiaries have contributed several million dollars of their excess cash to offset rising costs and mitigate the impact on members.

“Unfortunately, with costs increasing year on year, this is extremely difficult to overcome,” he added. “Our commitment is always to provide the cheapest electricity for the most reliable service, and we will continue to work to provide that to our members,” Johnson said.

Members can help offset rising costs by taking energy efficiency measures. Blue Energy Ridge members receive personalized energy efficiency tips, energy saving ideas, and other tools and programs at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com.

For more details about the rate adjustment, please see the September membership newsletter, “Membership Matters,” in Carolina Country magazine, which is sent to all members.

Blue Ridge Energy is a nonprofit electric cooperative serving approximately 80,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany counties, as well as parts of Avery, Alexander and Wilkes counties.