Edmond Electric customers will soon notice an increase in the fuel adjustment cost rate on their monthly bills.

The fuel cost adjustment will be set at 2.5 cents per kWh beginning with October's bills. The current rate is 2 cents per kWh.

The average customer will see an increase of about $5.80 per month.

The fuel cost adjustment is a fee charged per kilowatt hour (kWh) used to help recover the cost of purchasing wholesale electricity.

Edmond officials said that rate is set based on market costs and, between June 2021 and June 2022, electricity prices across Oklahoma rose 48 percent.

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The biggest factor is the cost of natural gas, which they say has risen more than 50 percent in a year.

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The fuel adjustment cost fee is separate from the fee for normal electricity usage, which is 8.51 cents per kWh.

“The FCA is how we collect revenue needed to cover the cost of purchasing the energy from the wholesale market,” said Glenn Fisher, Edmond Electric Director. “This is the energy we distribute to our retail customers. Right now, we are seeing unusually high wholesale market prices for energy, and so we have made the adjustment to cover that cost. But, when we see the market readjust and lower, that FCA rate will drop too. It’s important for our customers to understand that the FCA is not a source of revenue for Edmond Electric. It is just a pass through of the costs of acquiring the wholesale energy.”

Officials passed on ways people can save on their energy bills:

• Cooling costs are typically 60 percent of your total utility bill. For every degree you set the thermostat below 78 degrees, you use 2 to 5 percent more electricity.
• Turn off lights in any room you’re not using or consider installing timers or sensors to reduce the amount of time your lights are on.
• Remember to clean the coils on your refrigerator.
• Clear outdoor air conditioning units and heat pumps of debris and shrubbery so they can work more efficiently.
• You will conserve energy by turning off or using sleep mode for any computer not in use for two hours or more.
• Lower the temperature on your water heater. A setting of 120 degrees Fahrenheit provides comfortable, hot water for most uses. And installing an insulating blanket on your electric water heater should pay for itself in less than a year.

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