We know that many of our members are facing challenging times, and no one wants to see rising electricity bills. As a not-for-profit, member-run cooperative, we have a responsibility to focus on safety, reliability, and affordability. Amid widespread cost increases across the industry and in our everyday lives, the focus on affordability is becoming a greater challenge.
Later this summer, we will move from a two-part rate structure to a three-part rate structure to more accurately reflect Sangre de Cristo Electric Association’s costs and to give you the opportunity to reduce your bill. Under the two-part rate structure, your bills only track energy use and access fees. Thus, the only way to influence your bill is to use less energy. With the three-part rate structure, the cost of energy use will decrease, and the bill will also reflect a service availability charge and a peak demand charge. This structure gives our members more options to control their bill.
What is peak demand? One easy way to visualize peak demand is to imagine a freeway. Now compare how that freeway looks most of the day versus how it looks at rush hour. Although the freeway doesn’t always have traffic, it needs to be ready to handle rush hour at all times. Energy is the same. Many households use several of their appliances at the same time, which means SDCEA’s system needs to be ready at all times to handle that demand. With the three-part rate structure, your energy use rate — measured in kilowatt-hours — decreases, and we will charge a demand rate for the maximum peak of energy you use in a month. This helps better align what you’re paying for with how energy is being used.
The new billing structure will balance the reduction in energy rates from $0.14370 per kWh to $0.13026 per kWh, with the addition of a $2.50 per-kilowatt demand charge. This structure doesn’t increase or decrease overall revenue for the cooperative but helps to ensure a more equitable bill for all SDCEA members.
This change is designed to help you better manage your electric bills by giving you more control over how and when you use energy. At the same time, it helps the cooperative manage the costs of meeting peak energy demand, helping to ensure a fair and efficient system for everyone.
The rate structure will give you options to influence your bill. This doesn’t mean changing your lifestyle; small changes can make a difference. You can shift your energy use by running your dishwasher when you go to bed instead of right after dinner, which is like waiting until rush hour is over to get on the road. You can stagger your use by running your major appliances at different times to decrease your peak demand. That means simply not running the dryer, oven, washing machine, and EV charger all at the same time. You can save on your bill by using appliance delay-start features or taking advantage of SDCEA’s programs, one-on-one energy consultations, and home and business energy audits.
With our new online Member Rate Education Hub at myelectric.coop/education-hub, we’re making it easy to navigate the rate change. There you will find tools, including a rate calculator, that help you understand how the three-part rate structure will impact your bill and allow you to test scenarios and options for managing it.
This change will go into effect in July, but starting with your April bill, you will see your specific peak demand reading, so you can begin to understand how your bill may change and how you can avoid the energy freeway at peak time rush hour.
You don’t have to navigate the rate change alone. Alongside simple online tools, SDCEA also offers customized support to help you walk through your individual bill. Call member services at 844-395-2412 any time, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, to find out how the rate change may impact your bill.
Jon Beyer is the CEO of Sangre de Cristo Electric Association, a electric distribution cooperative based in Buena Vista, Colorado.
