The hot weather in August will put the heat on electric bills in October, TVA said Tuesday.
The typical EPB monthly bill will jump by another $7 in October due to the largest monthly fuel cost adjustment ever by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
TVA spokesman Scott Brooks said wholesale electric rates will jump another 6.4 percent on Oct. 1 to cover TVA's extra expense during August, when the federal utility had to scale back generation at its biggest nuclear plant because it was pumping too much hot water back into the Tennessee River.
Because of that, TVA had to buy more power to meet peak power demands pushed higher by warmer-than-normal temperatures.
"It has to everything to do with the weather," Brooks said. "Electricity demand was greater than forecast because of the hot weather and we had to limit the output at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant because of the hot water in the Tennessee River."
TVA estimates it lost more than $50 million this summer from a prolonged cutback in power generation at the three-reactor Browns Ferry nuclear plant and short-term reductions in generation at TVA's Colbert, Cumberland, John Sevier and Gallatin coal plants in Tennessee and Alabama.
TVA uses the water to cool the steam used to generate electricity at the plants, but had to cut production at the plants because of thermal concerns over rising water temperatures in the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers in July and August.
Sam Roberts of the National Weather Service said the average high temperature in Chattanooga during August was 94 degrees, or 5 degrees above normal.
TVA adjusts its rates every month to reflect changes in the price of its coal, natural gas and purchased power. After declining in 2009 due to the recession-induced drop in fuel costs, TVA's monthly fuel cost adjustment has risen for eight consecutive months and boosted TVA's wholesale rates by more than 30 percent above the level in March.
Lisa Brown said her electric bills soared this summer at the Lookout Valley home she rents.
"My electric bills have been nearly $300 a month this summer and that's a real hardship," she said after paying her EPB bill Tuesday.
Richard McKevie, who rents an apartment in East Chattanooga, said TVA rates he's "trying to live on a fixed income so it's hard to handle any kind of an increase in costs."
"If their fuel costs are going up, TVA needs to figure out how to cut other expenses, just like we all have to do," he said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/chattreporter.