The public is invited to attend a community meeting at 6 p.m. tonight to learn more about proposed changes to Hermiston Energy Services (HES) retail rates.
The meeting will be in the Board Room of the Hermiston Conference Center
Hermiston Energy Services is proposing to adjust retail rates on bills calculated after May 1 The average residential electric bill would increase by about $11 per month (about 37 cents per day).
The primary factor in the proposed rates have been increases in wholesale electricity prices. Over the last six years Bonneville Power Administration have increased the cost of wholesale power by about 23 percent to Hermiston Energy Services and other public utilities throughout the Northwest, said HES Superintendent Nate Rivera. He said HES’s wholesale power costs comprise more than 50 percent of its total operating expenses.
HES commissioned a Cost Service Analysis to help apply rate changes in a way that would better mirror how the HES is charged for wholesale power and to reflect the cost of providing service to various rate classes.
Under the proposed rates, a residential member who uses 1,500 kilowatt hours would pay $112.35 in energy charges, up from the current amount of $101.45, Rivera said.
The proposed rate schedule also increases the residential monthly customer charge by $4, to $10.50. The customer charge helps defray some of HES’s non-energy costs that are necessary to serve customers.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates the U.S. average price for residential customers is 13 cents per kilowatt hour compared to HES’s proposed 6.80 cents.
HES offers a heating assistance program for those who meet income requirements.
Hermiston Energy Services last approved a rate adjustment on July 28, 2003. Hermiston Energy serves more than 5,200 accounts in Hermiston, Oregon.
