Just as inflation has impacted everything from the price of gasoline to the price of eggs, costs associated with the production and delivery of electricity have also risen.
While there is no short answer, there are a few key elements that impact electricity prices and rates. Some of these factors Perennial can manage, some of them you can impact and other factors are beyond our control.
There are three primary parts to your monthly electric bill: a facilities charge, an energy purchased power charge, and an energy distribution delivery charge. To understand your total energy costs and what impacts your bill, we will unpack one piece at a time.
The first is a fixed monthly facilities charge, which covers the costs associated with providing electricity to your home. This includes equipment, materials, labor, and operating costs necessary to serve each meter in Perennial’s service territory, regardless of the amount of energy used. In order to ensure the reliable service you expect and deserve, we must maintain the local system, including power lines, substations and other necessary equipment. Like many other businesses, we have experienced supply chain issues and steep cost increases for some of our basic equipment. For example, the cost for a distribution transformer (which looks like a long metal can at the top of a power pole) went from $730 in 2021 to $1775 this year, and wait times to receive this essential equipment is approximately one year. Because we are a not-for-profit public power district, some of these expenses may have to be passed on in the future to our customers. Perennial’s facility charge is based on the type and size of service at the service location.
The other two components of your monthly bill are the purchased power energy charge and the distribution delivery energy charge, which are based on how much energy you consume. The purchased power energy charge is a charge for the cost the District incurs related to the purchasing of energy used by customers. While the distribution delivery energy charge is a charge to cover the cost associated with maintaining and operating the District’s distribution system, including the delivery of electricity from the substation, through power lines, to the location it is consumed.
You’ve likely noticed the amount of energy you use can vary from month to month and is typically impacted by extreme temperatures. When temperatures soar or dip, your cooling and heating equipment run longer, which increases your home energy use. Regardless, energy consumption is an area that you have some control over, and you can lower your monthly bill by actively reducing energy use. Your thermostat is a great place to start, so be sure to keep it close to 78 degrees during the summer months. Additionally, Perennial offers a smart thermostat incentive to help give you more control, details at www.perennialpower.energywisenebraska.com.
Hopefully, this information sheds light on some of the factors that impact electricity prices. While we can’t control the weather or the rising costs of materials and fuels, please know Perennial is doing everything possible to keep controllable costs down. Contact us at 402-362-3355 or visit www.perennialpower.com if you have questions about your energy bill, for advice on how to save energy at home, or for more information about incentives to help you save energy and money.
