Increased rates are coming for Fall River Electric customers

The following is a news release from Fall River Electric.

ASHTON – Fall River Electric Cooperative rates will increase just slightly with billing statements received by members after May 1.

The increase will be collected by a modest increase in the monthly demand charge. The increase in demand is necessary to better align power demand costs to Co-op rates while ensuring greater fairness to all members and helps recoup infrastructure costs from customers who are driving higher usage.

There will be no increase in the kilowatt hour charge or the monthly access fee.

The reasons for the increase include:

• Higher demand for electricity due to increased energy usage by member homes and businesses.
• New growth in services (more than seven hundred new connections in 2024) with more people moving into our area.
• Higher wholesale power costs especially for “tier two” power purchases, as well as the expected Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) increase of 8.3% on power and a 24% increase in transmission costs.
• Inflation in both materials and maintenance costs that ensure a reliable power grid.

“We have had a long stretch without rate increases, nine years in fact before having a slight increase in early 2024. We have focused on controlling costs and being efficient in delivering services to our members,” said Fall River Electric CEO/General Manager Bryan Case.

“We have deployed financial tools to help us control costs as much as possible, while delivering a robust equity ratio of up to 52%. That means we can now use some of that equity to finance portions of upcoming wholesale power price increases,” Case added.

To help owner-members of the Co-op better manage their demand usage, Fall River has added new information and tools to its website. Also, residential members can access their account online and view their peak demand dates and times thus allowing them to evaluate what usage was occurring when they reached their peak demand.

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