Cost to produce electricity going up, reflecting on bills

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Each month, you can find fuel adjustment charges on your electric bill, which are regulated and reviewed by the Public Service Commission. While this charge doesn’t relate to what you pay at the pump, it is an adjustment made by all energy co-ops to factor in changes to the cost of fuels that help generate electricity.

“For a long time it has been a credit on our members’ bills but in the last several months, natural gas prices have been up to four times as much as they have been in the past and that’s caused the cost to go up,” said Denise Myers, the community relations manager with Blue Grass Energy.

Along with those fuel adjustment costs, another thing that is a major driver to those electric bills is the weather. No surprise there, but many of us sometimes forget just how cold the month before was.

“A lot of times when you get your energy bill, sometimes you’re almost a month and a half away from when you actually use it and you may forget some things that went on or you may have forgotten how cold it was,” Myers said.

But to help even out those bills throughout the year, many energy companies offer programs where you can pay a fixed or averaged price throughout the year and any extra paid during low energy consuming times is then used as a credit during high energy use.

“It’s no big catch-up at the end of a year, so it’s an average as you go along and that really helps take the spikes out of what you have to pay,” Myers said.

Many electric companies also provide programs for those that are behind or struggling to pay electric during the winter months.

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