Summer Rate Decrease, Service Availability Charge Increase Effective Jan. 1

By Brianna Wall

As part of an ongoing effort to better reflect OEC's true cost of providing electric service to our 55,000 accounts, the service availability charge will increase from 83¢ to 90¢ per day, effective Jan. 1, 2019 — or $27 on a 30-day electric bill. The good news? Another part of the electric rate will decrease.

"According to a cost of service study completed two years ago, our service availability charge should be about $53 per month, or about $1.77 per day," said CEO Patrick Grace. "When the increase takes effect, it will be 90¢, which is about half what it should be."

WHY DOES THE SERVICE AVAILABILITY CHARGE CONTINUE TO INCREASE?

The service availability charge is a fixed daily cost. Theoretically, it should consist of OEC's fixed costs, but the reality is quite different. Almost all of OEC’s operating costs are fixed. Whether a member uses one kilowatt hour (kWh) per month or 1,000 kWhs, the same amount of infrastructure and materials are needed to provide electricity.

In addition, linemen, bucket trucks and maintenance dollars are needed on a daily basis to ensure that infrastructure operates reliably and efficiently, which can be difficult in unpredictable Oklahoma weather.

These are all fixed costs for OEC and, again, are all needed no matter how many kilowatt hours our members use.

“Electric consumers in general believe we should pay only for what we use,” Grace continued. “It takes a very big investment to provide electricity, but our rates do not currently reflect that.”

WILL PART OF THE RATE DECREASE?

In order to keep the rate adjustment from being a rate increase, an area of

During the summer months, the on-peak and off-peak energy charges will decrease from 25.6688¢ to 24¢ and 10.2688¢ to 9.8688¢ per kWh, respectively. On-peak rates occur on weekdays from June 1 to Aug. 31 from 3 to 7 p.m. Energy used during off-peak hours on June bills will continue to reflect the shoulder rate cost of 11.5252¢ per kWh, while off-peak electricity use on July, August and September statements will be billed at the new summer off-peak rate of 9.8688¢ per kWh.

The small commercial rate is set to change slightly, as well. Check www.okcoop.org/rates for details.

It’s important to remember — like all products, goods and services — costs will continue to rise: production costs, delivery costs, materials and maintenance costs, etc. OEC continually evaluates all options and works hard to ensure members are paying a fair and reasonable price for their electricity.

Visit www.okcoop.org to learn about ways you can save on your electric bill throughout the year — you might even qualify for a free energy audit!