At its February 2023 meeting, your board of directors reviewed an extensive Cost-of-Service Study and approved cost-of-service increases for most rate classes. The cost-of-service (COS) charge will be increasing for most of our members (over 92%) by $15 effective April 1, 2023, raising the COS charge for residential, single phase service from $30 to $45. The delivery charge (kilowatt per hour) will NOT be changing. This equates to about a 10% total increase on an average residential bill.

The cost-of-service charge is the fixed charge that covers a portion of the expenses the co-op incurs to make sure you have electricity available at any given moment. It covers tangible things like meters, transformers, poles, and electric lines. Whether you use any electricity or not, those tangibles have to be in place and ready when you flip a switch.

The delivery charges (kWh) associated with the amount of electricity for the residential rate will not be changing. That rate will remain $0.10104 per kWh. Energy efficiency and conservation can help you lower this portion of your electric bill.

Northwestern REC is a not-for-profit cooperative owned by you, the members, and governed by a Board of Directors elected by the membership. Your cooperative is accountable to consumer-members, not outside investors, and works hard to provide reliable power and quality customer service at the lowest possible cost. Your cooperative works to control costs, but inflationary pressures have raised the costs of wholesale power and delivering that power to our members beyond what we can control.

The last time Northwestern REC had any increase in the kWh delivery charge was in April 2008, and the last cost-of-service increase was in January 2018. Before any decisions are made, the co-op performs an extensive Cost-of-Service Study. Our last study was completed in February 2023. Your board of directors and co-op staff examined every option before approving the April 1, 2023 cost-of-service increase.

Northwestern REC offers a number of ways to help you manage your power bill. Some of those services include automatic payment options, budget billing, energy audits, and energy efficiency programs. Payment assistance is also available to those who qualify.

For more information, check out the 2023 Rate Changes Q&A page.