What am I paying for? Understanding your electric bill

August is typ­i­cal­ly one of the warmest months of the year, which means air con­di­tion­ers across our com­mu­ni­ty are work­ing over­time to keep homes com­fort­able. Dur­ing peri­ods of extreme heat, many mem­bers may see an increase in their elec­tric bills and won­der what fac­tors con­tribute to the cost of elec­tric­i­ty.

At Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive, we believe under­stand­ing your elec­tric bill is an impor­tant part of being an informed mem­ber. While the total amount due may seem like a sin­gle num­ber, it actu­al­ly reflects sev­er­al dif­fer­ent costs asso­ci­at­ed with deliv­er­ing reli­able elec­tric­i­ty to your home or busi­ness.

The largest fac­tor is often the amount of ener­gy you use. Elec­tric­i­ty is mea­sured in kilo­watt-hours (kWh), and the more ener­gy your house­hold con­sumes, the high­er your bill will be. Dur­ing the sum­mer, air con­di­tion­ing is typ­i­cal­ly the largest dri­ver of increased ener­gy use. When tem­per­a­tures climb into the 90s or high­er, our cool­ing sys­tems run longer and more fre­quent­ly, con­sum­ing sig­nif­i­cant­ly more elec­tric­i­ty than they do dur­ing milder weath­er.

Anoth­er major fac­tor is the cost of gen­er­at­ing or pur­chas­ing elec­tric­i­ty. The cost of pro­duc­ing elec­tric­i­ty is influ­enced by a diverse mix of ener­gy resources, includ­ing nat­ur­al gas, coal, nuclear, solar and oth­er gen­er­a­tion sources. While each resource has dif­fer­ent cost char­ac­ter­is­tics, changes in fuel prices, whole­sale pow­er mar­kets and gen­er­a­tion avail­abil­i­ty ulti­mate­ly affect the cost of elec­tric­i­ty deliv­ered to mem­bers.

Trans­mis­sion costs also play a role. Before elec­tric­i­ty reach­es your home, it must trav­el across a net­work of high-volt­age trans­mis­sion lines that con­nect pow­er plants to local dis­tri­b­u­tion sys­tems. Trans­mis­sion equip­ment requires ongo­ing main­te­nance and upgrades to ensure reli­a­bil­i­ty, espe­cial­ly as elec­tric­i­ty demand con­tin­ues to grow.

Clos­er to home, Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive main­tains the local elec­tric dis­tri­b­u­tion system—utility poles, pow­er lines, trans­form­ers, sub­sta­tions and oth­er essen­tial equip­ment that safe­ly deliv­ers pow­er to mem­bers. Main­tain­ing this equip­ment is cov­ered through the month­ly Facil­i­ties Charge. This is a flat month­ly fee all mem­bers pay, regard­less of how much elec­tric­i­ty they use. This fixed fee ensures all mem­bers pay a fair share of the basic oper­a­tional costs required to keep the pow­er grid reli­able and ready to serve your home or busi­ness. Whether a mem­ber uses a lit­tle elec­tric­i­ty or a lot, we must main­tain infra­struc­ture and have crews, equip­ment and resources avail­able to pro­vide elec­tric­i­ty around the clock.

Sum­mer tem­per­a­tures can also influ­ence costs in less obvi­ous ways. When the demand for elec­tric­i­ty is high across a region, whole­sale pow­er prices can increase. Util­i­ties and grid oper­a­tors must ensure enough gen­er­a­tion is avail­able to meet peak demand, and those costs can be reflect­ed through­out the elec­tric sys­tem.

The good news is that sim­ple steps to low­er ener­gy use can make a mean­ing­ful dif­fer­ence. Set­ting your ther­mo­stat a few degrees high­er, replac­ing dirty HVAC fil­ters, using ceil­ing fans and seal­ing air leaks can help reduce ener­gy con­sump­tion and low­er your bill.

Coastal Elec­tric Cooperative’s mis­sion is to pro­vide safe, reli­able and afford­able elec­tric­i­ty while being up- front about the fac­tors that impact ener­gy costs. We under­stand every dol­lar mat­ters, and we are com­mit­ted to mak­ing smart invest­ments that keep the lights on and sup­port the com­mu­ni­ties we serve.

If you ever have ques­tions about your elec­tric bill or co-op pro­grams designed to help you save, please reach out. We’re here to help you make informed deci­sions that work for your house­hold.

Thank you for allow­ing Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive to serve you.