Billing Explained

Common Billing Components Explained:

The monthly fixed service charge for your electric service covers the fixed cost to serve

your meter whether you use any energy or not. This charge supports the cooperative’s

investment in substations, poles, wire, meters, and transformers as well as the labor to

provide safe and reliable electric service. It also supports fleet, facility and customer service

functions, such as line maintenance, right of way clearing, member service support,

and administrative responsibilities. According to our last Cost of Service Study, the true

cost to serve a single phase customer using no electricity is $44.93 per month (2019 cost

calculation which has since increased). The current service charge for a single phase

meter is $42.00 per month for residential single phase. The remainder of the cost to

serve this meter is picked up in the energy charge each month.

The energy charge is simply the amount of energy (kWh) you use times the rate you are currently
paying. For example a general single phase service pays $.1144 per kWh. This charge covers the costs of
purchasing power from our power supplier (except the PPA explained below) and pays the remaining
fixed costs that are not covered by the Service Charge (detailed above).

The PCA is a separate line item on each GCCEA billing statement which reflects the increases/decreases
in the cooperative’s actual cost of energy and other fluctuating cost factors.
The fluctuation in the PCA is largely caused by changes in the cost of fuel and operations and
maintenance of generation facilities. Wholesale power rates generally change seasonally based on the
demand for energy. Summer and winter costs are higher than the spring and fall seasons. These
monthly changes in power cost are currently calculated on an annual basis and compared to the annual budgeted cost of power.  The PCA can change from month to month, but we try to keep it as stable as possible by doing an annual calculation and monitoring it.  This provides more stability in the rate to our members.