As colder weather approaches, the source of heat for most Chattanoogans will be a bit cheaper next month than it was a year ago.
The price of electricity in Chattanooga will dip slightly in December to keep EPB’s power rates 2.4 percent below where they were a year ago. Although December total power bills are likely to rise above this month’s bill as temperatures get colder with the arrival of winter and home and businesses consume more power to stay warm, the price of that power will be lower next month and the cheapest rate for December in at least five years.
The Tennessee Valley Authority adjusts its monthly power rates, in part, based upon the average cost of the fuel it uses to generate electricity and the federal utility is lowering its December fuel adjustment portion of consumer bills by 3.2 percent in December from the current rate. The December fuel portion of bills will be down 17.4 percent from a year ago.
Although the cheaper fuel is being offset by higher base rate charges adopted by TVA for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, overall electricity rates are still down.
“This will be the lowest December (for TVA rates) since at least 2013, which we began our current calculations for fuel cost adjustments,” TVA spokesman Scott Brooks said. “The overall system average fuel rate for December is approximately 10 percent lower than the three-year average December fuel cost. This is mainly due to lower purchased power rates and higher expectations for hydro generation.”