Chattanooga homeowners are getting a bit of a break from the soaring costs of energy next month, but motorists are still paying more at the pump for gasoline and both electricity and fuel prices are still up significantly from a year ago.
Chattanooga’s EPB said residential electricity prices will dip 0.2% next month – the first such drop so far this year – as the price of natural gas used to generate electricity eases back slightly from the peaks reached in March. But average residential power bills in Chattanooga will be up next month by 5.5% from a year ago due to higher fuel costs adjustments from the Tennessee Valley Authority.
EPB said the average residential power bill for a Chattanooga household using the typical 1,295 kilowatt-hours of electricity will drop in May by 30 cents from this month’s rates but will still be up by $6.96 from what such power cost in May 2021.
“Month to month, there’s a slight decrease,” TVA spokesman Scott Brooks said.” May is traditionally part of the “shoulder” season between the peak winter and summer months (when power consumption is typically less than most other months).”
Despite the drop in rates for next month, May’s monthly fuel cost next month will still be 44% higher than the three-year average for May, “mainly due to increases in commodity prices such as coal and natural gas,” Brooks said.