Over the past few years, the city, working with the Kansas Municipal Energy Agency, has secured lower energy costs through new power supply contracts and taking advantage of the integrated power market.
Each month the historical and current operating expenses, plus revenue and expense projections, are reviewed to forecast required energy rates accurately. In October 2019, this monthly review indicated the base energy rate could be lowered. To confirm this indication, a $0.01 energy cost adjustment (ECA) credit began to be applied to customer’s bills, effectively reducing their energy rate and cost. Customers would see the credit on their monthly bill listed as “ECA Credit.”
Following six months of the ECA credit applied to customer’s bills, forecasts indicated a$0.0125 per kWh decrease is sustainable. At their April 7, 2020 meeting, the City Council adopted an ordinance lowering the base energy charge to all customer classes by $0.0125 per kWh. This base rate decrease will provide even lower energy costs to our customers. Beginning with the April 30, 2020 billing, the $0.01 ECA credit customers saw on their bills between October and March, will be replaced with a $0.0125 per kWh reduction in the base energy charge.
In these uncertain times, this action should provide a level of certainty to our customers that their energy rates will remain at the reduced level they’ve seen the past six months, plus an additional quarter-cent reduction.
Source: City of Russell.
