Tennessee Valley Authority rate hike to will impact customers of North Georgia EMC

The North Georgia Electric Membership Corp. will not pass along to its customers the full 20 percent rate increase approved by the Tennessee Valley Authority board, officials said Wednesday.

“They are pretty certain the increase will be a little less than the 20 percent that TVA has announced,” said Jeff Rancudo, spokesman for the electric power distributor.

TVA officials said the rate adjustment is needed to help cover increased fuel costs and related expenses, and will go into effect in October.

Customers who receive TVA power through distributors like North Georgia Electric Membership Corp. will see an average increase of $12 to $15 per 1,000 kilowatt hours.

Officials with the North Georgia EMC, which buys electricity from TVA, said they aren’t certain how much of an average increase their customers will see.

“We won’t have those numbers until late this week or early next week,” Mr. Rancudo said.

North Georgia EMC serves nearly 100,000 customers in Catoosa, Chattooga, Floyd, Gordon, Murray, Walker and Whitfield counties.

Dalton Utilities, another North Georgia electricity distributor, will not be affected by TVA’s rate increase because it purchases electricity from other providers, officials said.

Follow-up calls to Dalton Utilities asking whether suppliers such as Georgia Power Co. plan to increase rates were not returned late Wednesday.

TVA President Tom Kilgore said fuel costs and the drought have raised expenses.

“I don’t like this at all,” Mr. Kilgore said. “The fact is we have to pay our fuel bill, and that’s what is causing all of this increase.”

He said the three-year drought has dried up more than half of its hydroelectric generation capacity — its cheapest power source. Coal prices have more than doubled in the past year, and natural gas and purchased power costs also are up by more than 60 percent this year, Mr. Kilgore said.