TVA logoA cooler and wetter summer is helping produce lower electric bills in the Tennessee Valley.
Buoyed by 44 percent more generation from its hydroelectric dams this year, the Tennessee Valley Authority is cutting the fuel portion of its electricity rates next month by an unprecedented 20 percent below the year-ago rate. The September cut will lower the average monthly light bill for residential customers in Chattanooga by nearly $4 next month, 2.7 percent below this month’s rate.
“These are the lowest rates since March 2012,” TVA spokesman Scott Brooks said. “The cooler summer temperatures have reduced demand, and all of the rain we have received is helping us produce more hydro power from our dams.”
Rainfall in the seven-state TVA region is 35 percent above normal so far this year. Chattanooga has received as much rain so far this year as what typically falls in an entire year – with four and a half months left in the year.
Hydropower from TVA’s 29 power-generating dams provides the lowest cost power for TVA since Mother Nature provides the “fuel” for such power.