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| 12/8/2008 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Empire Electric will increase rates 5 percent in January
Steve Grazier
Journal Staff Writer
Empire Electric Association customers can expect to pay a little more for their power starting Jan. 1, 2009.
Neal Stephens, the electricity co-op's general manager, said Friday that Empire customers will see an across-the-board rate increase of approximately 5 percent.
Empire Electric is lifting its members' monthly charges mainly because its provider, Westminster-based Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc., recently boosted its wholesale rate by 4.1 percent, Stephens said.
Stephens cited internal cost increases at Empire Electric as the other reason for upping consumer rates. He said the co-op's workers compensation package is going up about 30 percent and property insurance is increasing 9 percent. The cost for materials such as truck tires is increasing 11 percent, and the price for electric poles is going up 16 percent.
The average monthly bill for residential customers using 677 kilowatt hours will go from $85.78 to $90.17 in 2009, Stephens said. Single-phase commercial members using about 1,228 kilowatt hours can anticipate shelling out an average of $149.31 a month over this year's $142.17.
Stephens said Empire Electric members should brace themselves for additional rate jumps in future years.
"It's likely not going to stop anytime soon," said Stephens, who noted that the national economic downturn was not related to Empire's fee increase.
Empire Electric's board of directors voted to increase 2009 consumer rates during its November regular meeting. The 5 percent rate hike in 2009 is notably less than this year's 8.9 percent increase, which was voted on in 2007, according to Stephens.
"That was mainly due to the 11.4 percent hike passed on by Tri-State," he said.
Tri-State supplies power to 44 electric cooperatives in Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska and Wyoming.
Overall, Stephens estimated that Empire Electric's rates are on par with the rest of Colorado.
"I think our prices are at or slightly above the statewide average," he said.
Empire has 13,018 residential customers, 2,641 small commercial customers and about 100 industrial customers, Stephens said. The cooperative serves Cortez, Mancos, Dolores, Dove Creek, Towaoc, Monticello and surrounding unincorporated communities.
On the Net: Empire Electric, www.eea.coop.
Reach Steve Grazier at steveg@cortezjournal.com.
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