Over 950 Edmond Electric commercial customers will be paying higher utility bills in the near future. That’s because ratepayers participating in the utility’s Pure and Simple Wind Rider program will be subject to more than a sixfold increase over the next five years, according to a news report in The Oklahoman.
Last week, the Edmond City Council approved the wind rider rate increase after hearing complaints that other customers were subsidizing their rates by nearly $1.8 million a year. The rate adjustment is being phased in to avoid a substantial hike. Edmond Electric’s wind energy program participants will continue to pay less than almost 38,000 of the utility’s regular customer base, who are not subject to the rate adjustment.
The rates have remained the same since the program’s inception in 2006, with wind customers paying a 0.27-cent per kilowatt hour tariff in lieu of the 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour fuel cost adjustment charge levied on other utility customers’ bills, said Glenn Fisher, director of Edmond Electric.
Under the new rates, wind customers will see their rates double on April 1, changing from 0.27 cents to 0.556 cents per kilowatt hour. For the average customer, that means the monthly charge would increase from $3.24 to $6.67, according to The Oklahoman.
The rate will increase every year until it reaches 1.7 cents per kilowatt hour on April 1, 2021. At that point, the average wind customer would be paying a $20.40 rider fee, which is less than the fuel adjustment charge paid by other customers.
The program is now closed to new customers but remains available only to ratepayers who opted into the program before August 24, 2014. It is anticipated that the program will offer new enrollment to a limited number of participants in April of 2017, with new customers paying 1.7 cents per kilowatt hour immediately.
Although the power grid remains the sole source for the utility’s electricity, the wind rider program provides a way for customers to support renewable energy.