There are hundreds of factors that go into what makes up your power bill. This month, we wanted to explain a few of these so you would better understand your bill.
Weather
As the temperature rises, so does the amount of time your air conditioning is running. The longer it runs, the more electricity it uses. The same is true in the winter for your heating unit. We recommend setting your thermostat at 68F in the winter and 78F in the summer.
Energy Habits
Typically, the more people in a home, the more electricity the home uses. That’s why bills can go up around the holidays when we are cooking bigger and longer meals, more guests are using hot water, more heating or cooling is let out as we go in and out of the house and we make more trips to the fridge for those tasty leftovers.
Fuel Costs
Just like the gas you use to fuel your car changes from day-to-day, so does the cost to fuel power plants. Our two largest fuel sources are emissions-free nuclear and natural gas. In particular, natural gas prices rose 218 percent from 2020 to 2022 according to the United States Energy Information Administration.
Equipment Costs
Your local co-op has felt the effects of inflation the last few years as prices for our equipment have risen dramatically. For example, transformers are up 53 percent and wires are up 66 percent in the past three years.
While you can’t control the weather, fuel costs or service costs, you can make changes to your energy consumption to help manage your bill. Learn about the most effective steps to take to keep your energy bills lower.