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No Rate
Increase for 2011; Legislative, Regulatory Issues Remain We recently received some good news from Associated Electric Cooperative, our power supplier, that I wanted to pass along to you. There will not be a rate increase to us in 2011. As a result of this news, your cooperative's electric rate will not change in 2011. While this is great news in the short term, unfortunately, the long term outlook is not as good. There are a number of key economic factors and possible legislative or regulative issues that may have a significant impact on your electric bill in the future. Economic factors that will force changes in future electric rates include the increased price of coal and the increased cost of shipping the coal from the mines in Wyoming to our cooperative-owned power plants in Missouri. Over 80% of the electricity generated by AECI is produced at their coal-fired power plants at Thomas Hill and New Madrid. What may cause the greatest impact on our electric rates would be legislation through Congress or a regulatory move from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Cap and trade legislation did pass through the U.S. House of Representatives last year, but it has been stalled in the Senate. However, if this did pass, a specific dollar amount per ton of coal burned at our power plants would be charged to AECI. How would this impact your power bill? The numbers we have been given range from $20 to $50 more per month, dependent upon the dollar amount charged per ton of coal burned at the power plant. If the cap and trade legislation remains stalled in Congress, the EPA has now positioned itself to regulate the use of coal, which would add additional expenses to any generating plant. Congressional representatives have filed legislation to prevent this move by the EPA, however, the legislation may or may not be passed by Congress. You can help your cooperative, which in turn, will help you save money on your electric bill now and into the future. During the winter months, please refrain from using dishwashers or clothes dryers from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. If you must use your appliances during these times, please operate only one at a time. This will help reduce our system demand that we set with our power supplier. This will help us control our rate to you. |
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