Vol73-9 September 2023

SMECO files for energy rate adjustment

On July 31, 2023, SMECO filed a request with the Public Service Commission (PSC) to reduce the cooperative’s base Standard Offer Service (SOS) rates for residential members. Under the proposed changes, the residential base SOS rate for summer will decrease from $0.0949 to $0.0874 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), and for winter will decrease from $0.0931 to $0.0854/kWh. If approved, the new rate will go into effect on October 1, 2023.

Members may have already noticed a difference on their bills the last few months as the Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) on residential bills has been trending down. Beginning in April, the PCA has been acting as a credit on member bills, and in May, that credit began to exceed five percent of the base SOS rate.

SMECO’s total SOS rate for energy has two parts: the base SOS rate and the PCA. The sum of these two parts make up the price members pay for the energy they use each month, and reflects the price SMECO pays for electricity on the wholesale market. (There is no mark-up and SMECO makes no profit.) The PCA is in place to reflect ever-changing energy prices and even out their impact on SMECO’s SOS rates to members. When the PCA is more than five percent (up or down) of the residential energy charge for three months in a row, SMECO files for a rate adjustment with the PSC. The adjustment shifts the energy charge to absorb the overage or credit reflected in the PCA.

Standard Offer Service rate update

Total residential Standard Offer Service (SOS) rate for August: $0.080768 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

• Summer Residential Energy Charge: $0.0949 per kWh
• August Residential Power Cost Adjustment (PCA): ($0.014132) per kWh

SMECO’s PCA for August is -15.08 percent of the current average annual base energy charge.