Vol76-4 April 2026
Member newsletter for Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative
Standard Offer Service rate update
Total residential Standard Offer Service (SOS) rate for March: $0.128390 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
- Winter Residential Energy Charge: $0.1060 per kWh
- March Residential PCA: $0.022390 per kWh
SMECO’s PCA for March was 21.18% more than the current residential base SOS rate.
SMECO must revise its base energy rate if the PCA for three consecutive months is 5 percent more or less than the base energy rate. Since the PCA for March is more than the trigger level of 5 percent for one month, SMECO’s base energy rate will remain unchanged at this time.
Extended frigid weather in early 2026 drove higher-than-expected power generation costs. PJM Interconnection generation requirements and higher fuel costs increased wholesale energy prices. SMECO hedges power purchases, so while the increases are less than market rates, they are higher than normal. These costs will show up on bills in March through the Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) and will be spread over several months to ease the impact. For more details, visit smeco.coop/straight-talk.
