With our economy in recession and many of our people facing financial discomfort, it is a welcome surprise that the Tennessee Valley Authority has announced it is cutting power rates to its retail customers next month – after eight consecutive months of electricity rate increases.
What factors determine electricity costs?
There are many variables, such as rainfall, temperatures and costs from other power suppliers. TVA generates electricity from its many dams, burns coal, buys natural gas and purchases some electricity from other operators.
“Our fuel costs were actually 12 percent below our forecasts,” TVA explained. “That helped offset the fact that we sold more because it was warmer in September and our hydro generation was lower than expected.”
The average residential customer will pay $5.37 less in November.
Every little bit of cost relief helps, even if it is only temporary.
Winter is coming – increasing demand and costs.