News

2/22/2010

South River EMC Continues To Provide Reliable Service To Members

South River EMC members will notice a change in their March electric bills. The bills will represent a discontinuation of the use of the wholesale power cost adjustment, or WPCA, and a new base rate.

The Cooperative recently completed a comprehensive cost of service study to determine whether current rates are adequate to cover expenses. The study revealed that the existing rates are no longer sufficient to meet the current cost of running an electric utility.

There are many factors that influence electricity rates, however in this time of economic uncertainty; South River EMC can point to the rising cost of materials and fuel as the largest drivers in the change of rates. There have been significant increases in fuel costs as well as the price of products and services required to run a utility in the past five years. 

For the past year, South River EMC has been using a WPCA to collect for increased fuel costs. The WPCA is a temporary measure used to recover unexpected increases incurred by the Cooperative.

With the average household using about 1,320 kwh a month, the WPCA for the average household bill has been $11.62 monthly.

The residential rate will be 9.31¢ per kilowatt hour, or kwh, (November through April) and 10.31¢ per kwh (May through October). The facilities charge will move from $12.75 to $20 for single-phase service and $38.25 to $40 for three-phase service.

Bill comparison:

A home that uses 1,320 kwh can expect the following bill (including taxes and facilities charges):

old rate: winter -       $152.69 (with WPCA)

new rate: winter -      $147.18

old rate: summer -     $159.10 (with WPCA)

new rate: summer -    $160.77

South River EMC is constantly working to keep costs down. The Cooperative has also taken advantage of many technologies that have enabled a more efficient use of manpower and vehicles as well as improved troubleshooting and outage restoration.

The Cooperative’s Web site (www.sremc.com) has a series of online tools to help visitors manage their energy use. Consumers can perform an easy home energy assessment with the Home EnergySuite or use one of the energy calculators to determine how much electricity can be saved by switching appliances, changing to new light bulbs or replacing an existing heating and cooling system.

South River EMC is a locally-owned and operated electric cooperative, which provides electric service to 42,000 homes, farms and businesses in parts of Harnett, Cumberland, Sampson, Johnston and Bladen counties.

Back to News