The North Central Electric Cooperative Board of Trustees revised the cooperative's rate schedule at its October meeting, approving a $2 per month increase in the Basic Service Charge and increasing the Time-of-Day rate spread between on-peak and off-peak rates by one-half cent per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

Effective Jan. 1, the difference between the on-peak and off-peak electric generation cost per kWh will increase from 1.5 cents to 2 cents. The difference between on-peak and off-peak stayed at 1 cent per kWh for three years until 8,000 residential meters were converted to digital meters that automatically transmit electric-use data to the cooperative's office. In 2014, Phase 2 was implemented when the spread was widened to 1.5 cents per kWh.

With the implementation of the Time-of-Day rate, the cooperative's rates better reflect the costs of purchased power from North Central's wholesale power supplier, Buckeye Power, which are passed on to the member.

Basic Service  Charge

The basic service charge will increase from $28 to $30. Members pay the Basic Service Charge regardless of how much electricity is used each month. It offsets some of the fixed costs of providing electric service, such as the cost of poles, wires, transformers and other necessary equipment.

As in previous years, the average Purchased Power Adjustment for 2014 has been "rolled into" the base rates. The Purchased Power Adjustment fluctuates each month with the cost of power.

The average electric bill for residential members who consume 1,200 kWh a month will increase a little over $2 per month.

The increase in the Monthly Service Charge allows the cooperative to keep pace with ongoing maintenance and replacements to its 1,781 miles of distribution lines. North Central spends an average of $2 million annually replacing aging lines and other equipment associated with delivering electricity to its members.

"Rates are gradually increasing because it costs more today to replace older equipment. Out outage statistics continue to be well below the national average because of our maintenance efforts," said General Manager Markus Bryant. "Preventive maintenance is the cheapest and best form of maintenance. We believe our members value system reliability."

See the Residential Rate Schedule by clicking here.