Prices at the pump and the electric meter are getting cheaper, but last week's cold weather is still likely to boost most electric bills coming in the next month.
Gasoline prices in Chattanooga fell an average of 4.6 cents per gallon last week, according to a new GasBuddy survey, while EPB said the price of electricity in Chattanooga will drop by nearly 2% next month due to a drop in the monthly fuel cost adjustment.
"While gas prices jumped in some places, it's being offset by drops elsewhere, and that has kept alive the possibility of briefly seeing the national average fall to the lowest level since 2021," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a new report on gas prices this week.
Coal costs also fell last month, helping the Tennessee Valley Authority to cut its monthly fuel cost adjustment for electricity users. At Chattanooga's EPB, the typical household that uses 1,091 kilowatt-hours of electricity in a month will pay $6.48 less in February than a year ago due to cheaper fuel costs.
(READ MORE: TVA breaks power record amid frigid temperatures)
But the lower price of electricity won't offset the increased consumption of power for most households during what was one of the coldest weeks in more than a decade in Chattanooga last week. Despite cheaper prices, most electric bills are likely to be higher in the next month due to the increased electricity consumption last week when temperatures fell into the single digits in Chattanooga, according to EPB.
"During the recent period of extreme cold weather, EPB marked the third highest usage in its history at 1,318.3 megawatts," EPB spokesperson Sophie Moore said Wednesday in an emailed statement. "Unfortunately, customers should expect higher bills because as temperatures drop, their HVACs must work even harder to make up the extreme difference between cold temperatures outside and the thermostat setting customers want to maintain inside."
Moore said EPB tries to work with its customers to pay electric bills and works with local assistance groups to aid low-income families struggling to pay their utility bills. January is typically the coldest month of the year with the highest winter electric bills, while July and August are usually the highest air conditioning months during the summer heat, which also pushes up electricity use and monthly power bills.
"We encourage customers to consider enrolling in levelized billing to help prevent drastic changes in bills during periods of peak usage," Moore said. "Bills are calculated on a rolling average of the last 12 months, so it helps avoid dramatic spikes caused by the extreme winter temperatures we had last week."
Moore said customers facing higher electric bills can also find assistance through the United Way of Greater Chattanooga by calling 211, texting your zip code to 898-211 or email 211staff@uwchatt.org. Metropolitan Ministries also provides emergency financial assistance to persons facing utility cutoffs for nonpayments.
(READ MORE: Cold weather pushes TVA power sales to record high)
Bill Rush, the CEO for Metropolitan Ministries in Chattanooga, said demand for its assistance programs continues to grow and is likely to be even greater with this year's colder-than-normal winter weather.
"A lot of families are struggling with paying rent and utilities right now, and we try to work with as many as we can, but the demand seems to keep growing," Rush said.
While utility bills are pinching many consumers, motorists are getting some reprieve at the gas pump.
According to a survey of 170 local service stations by GasBuddy.com, the average price of gas in Chattanooga fell last week to $2.61 a gallon, which is 13.1 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and 51.5 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. GasBuddy said the national average price of diesel has fallen 2.1 cents in the last week and stands at $3.87 per gallon.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.
Staff photo / Ben Michaels pumps gas into his car at the Speedway gas station on the corner of South Holtzclaw Avenue and East Third Street in 2021 in Chattanooga. The price of regular unleaded gasoline jumped nearly 15 cents a gallon in one week in Chattanooga to the highest level in the last seven years.