The New Year will begin with cheaper energy than a year ago in Chattanooga.
Despite a slight uptick in gasoline and electricity prices at the end of the year, fuel and heating costs for the typical Chattanooga household is still lower than a year ago, thanks to the cheaper natural gas and oil prices due to the COVID-19 induced slowdown in travel and more abundant hydroelectricity generation from record rains in 2020.
The Tennessee Valley Authority said its average fuel rate used to determine January power bills is 16% lower than the average January over the past three years and the lowest for the start of the year since the fuel charge started in 2006 at TVA, according to utility spokesman Scott Fiedler.
TVA did not raise its base rates for the current year and it adjusts the fuel portion of its power bills every month based upon the fluctuating price of the fuels used in producing electricity. TVA has benefited from greater nuclear generation and more rains have boosted hydroelectricity generation. Fuel costs for natural gas and coal are also down due to the recession in 2020.
As a result, the typical Chattanooga household that uses 1,295 kilowatt-hours of electricity will pay $138.91 for electricity next month. While that is $1.28 higher than the current electricity bill for the same amount of power in December, it remains $3.49 cheaper than what the same household paid a year earlier for electricity.