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From eggs to gasoline, the price of everything is on the rise. And power costs, unfortunately, have not been immune to this trend.

Beginning in September, you may have noticed an increase in the PCA line item on your bill. The Power Cost Adjustment, or PCA, is the tool used to adjust the amount of funds collected to pay for the fluctuating cost of power. While the PCA usually adds little to no cost to your bill, in November the PCA will increased from $.02 to $.025, resulting in an additional $25 per 1,000 kWhs used. This is not a permanent rate increase. This is a direct pass-through of the actual cost of the energy Tri-County EMC needs to serve you.

Natural gas our largest fuel source for electricity generation. For many years, our members have benefited from low natural gas prices – resulting in a negative PCA for the past 5 years. But in today’s world of inflation and unrest, energy prices are volatile. Prices of natural gas have risen to levels we have not seen in more than 10 years. Coal is not readily available due to regulations and shipping constraints. And solar resources do not provide enough energy to meet the needs of our hot summer peaks. All of these factors result in significant increases to the cost of providing electric service to the homes and businesses we serve. We do our best to soften the blow to our members through wise financial planning and management, but these recent increases in cost are simply beyond our control.

Tri-County EMC uses a diverse mix of fuel sources for electricity, which helps reduce costs. Our electricity is generated from a mix of natural gas, coal, nuclear, solar and hydro. This fuel mix helps reduce dramatic fluctuations in energy cost.

As always, we will continue to keep a close watch on fuel costs in the coming months and adjust the PCA accordingly to reflect the most accurate fuel prices. As a not-for-profit cooperative, Tri-County EMC is committed to bringing safe, reliable electrical service at a reasonable cost to benefit our members.

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