The average Chattanooga homeowner will save about $5.50 in December due to the latest monthly drop in TVA’s fuel cost adjustment.

The federal utility announced today it will cut its wholesale rates another 5.5 percent in December — the 7th reduction this year in the utility’s fuel cost adjustment. Effective Dec. 1, the average residential rate for TVA will be 8.4 cents per kilowatthour, down from the peak reached in October 2008 when electric rates averaged 10.4 cents per kilowatthour.

TVA President Tom Kilgore said electric rates are nearly back to where they were two years ago before soaring fuel costs boosted TVA power costs.

EPB spokeswoman Lacie Newton said the typical Chattanooga homeowner who uses 1,461 kilowatthours of power each month will pay $120.10 for December power use under the new rates, or $5.50 less than in the current month.

Mr. Kilgore told TVA directors today that rainfall in the Tennessee Valley is above normal this year for the first time in four years, helping to boost TVA’s cheapest source of power — hydroelectricity generated at TVA’s 27 power-producing dams.

Natural gas, oil and coal prices also have declined in the past year.

“The great news is that fuel costs are coming down,” Mr. Kilgore said.

For complete details, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.